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University of Southern California

University of Southern California's course descriptions average 64.4 on the 100-to-0 ruler: clearly left of center. Across all 100 schools, the average is 67.5, so University of Southern California reads 3.2 points further right.

Liberal (100)center (50)Conservative (0)
University of Southern California: 64.4 (likely range 61.5 to 67.2) All 100 schools: 67.5 each other school in the comparison

Where its courses fall

0%Far left92–100
19%Left75–91
75%Center-left59–74
6%Center42–58
0%Center-right26–41
0%Right9–25
0%Far right0–8
16 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

AHIS 374 · Contemporary Art and Collective Action75

Art & Art History

Explores a range of recent artworks that confront the harms of incarceration and systemic oppression while boldly envisioning the more just futures.

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AMST 543 · Critical Studies in Whiteness75

Ethnic & African American Studies

Max Units: 8.0 Examines meaning of “whiteness” from historical and other disciplinary perspectives; focus is on how whiteness operates within specific racial regimes to perpetuate inequality.

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HIST 398 · The History of Waste75

History

Uses waste as a lens to explore the ties between economic development, ecological disruption, resource extraction and racial, class and gender exploitation.

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Furthest right

None. University of Southern California has 16 left-framed courses and not one right-framed course.

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 61.5 to 67.2; a comparison whose range overlaps this one is not a reliable difference.

  • Only 16 of University of Southern California'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 Southern California by department (share of courses described from the left)
DepartmentLeft-framed shareCourses
Women's & Gender Studies10.7%28view
Sociology3.5%86view
History1.9%207view
Ethnic & African American Studies1.2%86view
Art & Art History0.9%225view
Economics0.8%129view
Political Science0.6%156view
English & Comparative Literature0.6%175view
Anthropology0%104view
Philosophy0%95view
Psychology0%119view
Religious Studies0%89view

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
University of Southern Californiamean_bias_score64.461.5 – 67.21,49916
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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