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University of Washington

University of Washington's course descriptions average 65.9 on the 100-to-0 ruler: clearly left of center. Across all 100 schools, the average is 67.5, so University of Washington reads 1.6 points further right.

ShowCompared withDepartments

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

University of Washington: 65.9 (likely range 64.6 to 67.2) All 100 schools: 67.5 each other school in the comparison

Where its courses fall

4%Far left92–100

38%Left75–91

39%Center-left59–74

10%Center42–58

2%Center-right26–41

3%Right9–25

4%Far right0–8

354 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

ENGL 308 · Marxism and Literary Theory100

English & Comparative Literature

A&H Introduces Marxist theory and methodology. Explores how and why Marx's writings, Marxist theory, and materialist methods became central to the study of literature and culture over the course of the twentieth century.

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HSTCMP 440 · The Communist Experience Around the100

History

SSc Communism from its origins in Bolshevik faction of Russian social democracy to the present, treating the development of the ideology, the various communist parties, and the communist states.

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SOC 469 · Balkan Societies100

Sociology

SSc Examination of the roots of Balkan social problems (economic backwardness, minority-group conflicts, peasant problem), the failure of pre-1945 attempts to solve these problems, the post-1945 communist failures, the causes of the…

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Furthest-right subjects

HSTAA 337 · The Holocaust and American Life0

History

SSc, DIV In most accounts, "the Holocaust" is told as a European story, but it was also transatlantic. Incorporates film, literature, journalism, social scientific writing, diaries, court cases, and other primary sources to examine how…

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HSTAA 506 · Slavery in the Americas0

History

Explores the rise of American slavery beginning with the development of the Atlantic slave trade between southern European powers and coastal African traders. Topics include cultures of slavery in the Americas, comparative racial…

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HSTCMP 258 · Slavery and Slave Trading in the 21st Century0

History

SSc, DIV Examines the forms that slavery and slave trading have taken in contemporary times.

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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 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.

University of Washington by department (share of courses described from the left)

Department	Left-framed share	Courses
Women's & Gender Studies	28.6%	91	view
Ethnic & African American Studies	21.1%	166	view
Anthropology	9.9%	253	view
History	6.4%	357	view
English & Comparative Literature	5.1%	236	view
Political Science	3.0%	167	view
Art & Art History	2.2%	89	view
Sociology	2.2%	137	view
Psychology	1.6%	187	view
Philosophy	1.1%	87	view
Economics	0.8%	119	view
Religious Studies	0%	27	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 Washington	mean_bias_score	65.9	64.6 – 67.2	1,916	136
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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