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Washington and Lee University

Washington and Lee University's course descriptions average 63.9 on the 100-to-0 ruler: clearly left of center. Across all 100 schools, the average is 67.5, so Washington and Lee University reads 3.7 points further right.

ShowCompared withDepartments

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

Washington and Lee University: 63.9 (likely range 62.4 to 65.3) All 100 schools: 67.5 each other school in the comparison

Where its courses fall

0%Far left92–100

3%Left75–91

88%Center-left59–74

10%Center42–58

0%Center-right26–41

0%Right9–25

0%Far right0–8

40 plotted courses (the ones with a political framing). 100 = far left, 50 = the average American, 0 = far right.

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Framing Subject

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

Furthest left

SOAN 282 · Commodification of Nature75

Sociology

ENV 282 This course studies the nature-society relationship in the colonial and modern world by analyzing the history of instrumental raw materials that have been commodified as part of the development of capitalism. Drawing on dependency,…

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SOAN 229 · Race: Anthropological Perspectives74

Sociology

FDR: SS4 Social Science - Group 4 Distribution "The fictions of race are a lived reality," explains theorist Katherine McKittrick. Evolutionary, historical, and cross-cultural perspectives show that races - as discrete, internally…

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ARTH 365 · Women, Art, and Empowerment73

Art & Art History

FDR: HA Fine Arts Distribution This seminar explores female artists from the late 18th century through the present, whose depictions of women have directly challenged the value system in art history that has traditionally privileged white…

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Furthest right

None. Washington and Lee University has 40 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 62.4 to 65.3; 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.

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

Department	Left-framed share	Courses
Ethnic & African American Studies	17.6%	17	view
Sociology	16.5%	79	view
Women's & Gender Studies	8.3%	12	view
History	7.6%	105	view
Political Science	7.1%	56	view
Economics	4.1%	49	view
English & Comparative Literature	3.7%	107	view
Art & Art History	3.6%	111	view
Religious Studies	1.7%	60	view
Philosophy	0%	65	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
Washington and Lee University	mean_bias_score	63.9	62.4 – 65.3	661	40
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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