Bureau of Disruption

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New York University

New York University's course descriptions average 65.1 on the 100-to-0 ruler: clearly left of center. Across all 100 schools, the average is 67.5, so New York University reads 2.5 points further right.

Liberal (100)center (50)Conservative (0)
New York University: 65.1 (likely range 63.0 to 67.2) All 100 schools: 67.5 each other school in the comparison

Where its courses fall

0%Far left92–100
7%Left75–91
86%Center-left59–74
5%Center42–58
2%Center-right26–41
0%Right9–25
0%Far right0–8
43 plotted courses (the ones with a political framing). 100 = far left, 50 = the average American, 0 = far right.

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Underlined: words the model quoted from the description when we asked it, after scoring, to explain its score.

Furthest left

SOC-GA 3111 · Sem in Soc Theory83

Sociology

This is a course on contemporary Marxist social science. It presents Marxist theory as a research program, focusing on its core themes and internal logic. We will examine how the class structure of capitalist societies generates a…

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ANTH-UA 112 · Anthropology of Gender and Sexuality80

Anthropology

This course examines the social and cultural forces that shape the construction of sex, gender, and sexuality. It takes these categories as nonbinary and fluid. Using an intersectional approach, it considers how various subject positions…

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SCA-UA 554 · Indigenous and Latinx Speculative Film and Fiction80

Ethnic & African American Studies

This course is an investigation of speculative film and fiction as a form of social critique and reparative justice. Speculative film and fiction are not restricted to science fiction, but rather “speculative” refers to all of those forms…

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Furthest right

POL-UA 9598 · European-American in The 21St Century40

Political Science

This course explores the history and the current state of political, economic and cultural relations between the United States and Europe. Ever since the end of the World War II, the cooperative relationship between these two parts of the…

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Why this number, in plain words

Political lean of course descriptions. Average Framing score (0 = far right, 50 = center, 100 = far left) of the scored courses in the group.

50 is the survey-anchored center of US adults on each issue (the "moderate" place of the ANES/GSS/PRRI seven-label ruler), not the cohort midpoint; scores above 50 read leftward, below 50 rightward.

Counted: courses with a Framing score (categories L/R/B/C). The likely range (95% interval) is 63.0 to 67.2; a comparison whose range overlaps this one is not a reliable difference.

  • Most course descriptions carry no political lean at all and are not in this average; the "share described from the left" view counts them.
  • Readings are of catalog description text, not of teaching, syllabi or individual professors.
New York University by department (share of courses described from the left)
DepartmentLeft-framed shareCourses
Women's & Gender Studies41.7%12view
Anthropology16.2%99view
Ethnic & African American Studies13.7%51view
Religious Studies8.8%34view
Sociology4.5%67view
Political Science2.8%72view
English & Comparative Literature2.7%74view
Economics2.4%41view
History2.3%130view
Art & Art History0%69view
Philosophy0%48view
Psychology0%37view

Lean (mean Framing score) is not published per department within a school; only the left-framed share is. Department rows carry no interval.

Details: exact rows, definitions and method
NameMetricValue95% intervalnscored
New York Universitymean_bias_score65.163.0 – 67.273443
All 100 schoolsmean_bias_score67.567.4 – 67.7124,29010,124
Formula
SUM(bias_score) / COUNT(bias_score)
Interval
normal approximation: mean +/- 1.96 * sd / sqrt(n), sample sd (n-1); undefined when n < 2
Model / prompt / snapshot
gpt-5.6-sol · r12 (2026-10-16-le49-r12) · 6df50b10
Metric caveats
Scored courses only (L/R/B/C); N and I carry no score and are excluded, so n here is smaller than the group's course count. Scores are model readings of catalog description text against a fixed anchored definition, not teaching or syllabi. The interval covers sampling noise in the mean only; it does not represent model reading error. Every value carries a `method` label: exact_rows or histogram_midpoint.

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