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University of Rochester

University of Rochester's course descriptions average 68.6 on the 100-to-0 ruler: clearly left of center. Across all 100 schools, the average is 67.5, so University of Rochester reads 1.1 points further left.

ShowCompared withDepartments

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

University of Rochester: 68.6 (likely range 64.6 to 72.7) All 100 schools: 67.5 each other school in the comparison

Where its courses fall

7%Far left92–100

39%Left75–91

39%Center-left59–74

7%Center42–58

2%Center-right26–41

2%Right9–25

2%Far right0–8

41 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

BLST 203 · Quemaremos el cielo si es preciso: Subversive Narratives of the Afro-Caribbean100

Ethnic & African American Studies

This course examines contemporary literature and cultural productions (films, art, music) from the Spanish-speaking Caribbean. It will explore works that challenge and dismantle the racial and gender/sexual hierarchies rooted in colonialism…

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BLST 233A · Policing America: Race, Class, and Criminalization92

Ethnic & African American Studies

This course provides a comprehensive exploration of the historical and contemporary intersections of race, class, and policing in the United States. By examining the evolution of policing from its earliest forms in slave patrols to…

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HIST 591 · PhD Readings in History: Past & Present Politics of Archaeological Practice92

History

This independent study will explore the politics of past and present archaeological practice with a specific focus on colonial and imperial approaches, their subsequent appropriations of material culture for museum, and the consequences of…

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Furthest-right subjects

CLTR 226B · Modern Anti-Semitism in Germany0

English & Comparative Literature

This course will explore "Anti-Semitism" as a historical phenomenon and a rhetorical one from the end of the 18th Century until today, particularily in Germany. We also aim to examine the specific discoursive history of anti-semitic tropes…

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ANTH 313 · Advanced Topic Seminar: Religious Nationalism10

Anthropology

Over the past forty years, Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Jewish, and Muslim forms of nationalism have arisen that seek to exclude nonbelievers from full participation in political life. We will discuss key theoretical texts on the…

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HIST 348 · Unsafe America: Accidents, Disasters, and Society: 1800-202038

History

According to data from the National Safety Council, unintended injuries cause over 224,000 deaths and62,000,000 cases involving medical attention per year across the country. Since the nineteenth century,"accidents" from car crashes to 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 64.6 to 72.7; a comparison whose range overlaps this one is not a reliable difference.

Only 19 of University of Rochester's descriptions carried a scorable lean, so this average and its rank are rough; the interval is the honest range.
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 Rochester by department (share of courses described from the left)

Department	Left-framed share	Courses
Women's & Gender Studies	27.3%	11	view
Ethnic & African American Studies	25%	24	view
Anthropology	23.1%	13	view
History	9.1%	33	view
Philosophy	5.3%	38	view
Political Science	2.9%	34	view
English & Comparative Literature	1.2%	81	view
Art & Art History	0%	29	view
Economics	0%	32	view
Psychology	0%	21	view
Religious Studies	0%	15	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 Rochester	mean_bias_score	68.6	64.6 – 72.7	331	19
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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