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University of California-Santa Cruz

University of California-Santa Cruz's course descriptions average 69.1 on the 100-to-0 ruler: clearly left of center. Across all 100 schools, the average is 67.5, so University of California-Santa Cruz reads 1.5 points further left.

ShowCompared withDepartments

Liberal (100)center (50)Conservative (0)

University of California-Santa Cruz: 69.1 (likely range 68.0 to 70.1) All 100 schools: 67.5 each other school in the comparison

Where its courses fall

9%Far left92–100

48%Left75–91

33%Center-left59–74

5%Center42–58

2%Center-right26–41

2%Right9–25

2%Far right0–8

575 plotted courses (the ones with a political subject). 100 = far left, 50 = the average American, 0 = far right. Subject places what a course studies, not the side it takes.

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Framing Subject

Subject places what a course studies, not the side it takes. A course on slavery or the Holocaust lands far right and a course on Marx or the Soviet Union lands far left, whether the course praises, criticizes or simply describes it.

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

Furthest-left subjects

ANTH 121 · Socialism100

Anthropology

Ethnography-based course that examines the social worlds of socialism, with particular focus on state socialism. Topics include: social problems that inspired socialist movements; implementation and experience of socialism in daily life;…

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ANTH 130S · Ethnography of Russia and Eastern Europe, Abroad100

Anthropology

This study abroad introduces the ethnography of Russia and Eastern Europe, with special attention to lived experience and legacy of state socialism. Topics: effects of socialism, changing economic practices; constructions of new identities;…

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ANTH 130W · Ethnography of Eastern Europe100

Anthropology

Examines daily life in Eastern Europe, especially how residents in this region have navigated the transition from state socialism to accession to the European Union. Topics include: the legacies of state socialism; cultural politics; new…

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Furthest-right subjects

HIS 116A · Unchained Memory: Slavery and the Politics of the Past0

History

Investigates the representation of slavery with scholarly and vernacual histories, focusing on the United States. Students examine representations of slavery in scholarly works, public-history venues like museums and historic sites, popular…

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HIS 158C · Slavery in the Atlantic World: Historical and Archaeological Perspectives0

History

Explores the African diaspora resulting from the transatlantic slave trade, drawing on methodologies from two academic disciplines--history and archaeology. Examines key questions about the slave system, using an array of source materials, both written documents and artifacts.

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HIS 181B · Africa and Britain in an Imperial World0

History

Covers the long history of interaction between Britain and Africa, from the Atlantic slave trade and British colonialism in Africa up to the post-colonial present, from British settlers in Africa to the African presence in the British Isles.

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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 68.0 to 70.1; 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.

University of California-Santa Cruz by department (share of courses described from the left)

Department	Left-framed share	Courses
Women's & Gender Studies	42.4%	85	view
Ethnic & African American Studies	38.6%	184	view
Sociology	15.9%	145	view
History	11.6%	406	view
Psychology	9.3%	162	view
Art & Art History	7.5%	321	view
Anthropology	7.3%	247	view
Political Science	6.0%	133	view
English & Comparative Literature	3.6%	385	view
Economics	0.8%	131	view
Philosophy	0%	87	view

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

Name	Metric	Value	95% interval	n	scored
University of California-Santa Cruz	mean_bias_score	69.1	68.0 – 70.1	2,286	257
All 100 schools	mean_bias_score	67.5	67.4 – 67.7	124,290	10,124

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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