All schools · Liberal arts college

Washington and Lee University · Sociology

16.5% of Washington and Lee University's Sociology course descriptions are framed from the left. Across all 100 schools' Sociology departments, it is 15.3%.

ShowCompared withDepartments

0%60%

Washington and Lee University: 16.5% Sociology at all 100 schools: 15.3% each other school in the comparison

Where Sociology courses fall

0%Far left92–100

27%Left75–91

55%Center-left59–74

9%Center42–58

0%Center-right26–41

5%Right9–25

5%Far right0–8

22 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.

See it for yourself

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.

Furthest-left subjects

SOAN 228 · Race and Ethnic Relations83

Sociology

FDR: SS4 Social Science - Group 4 Distribution An examination of why and how society creates and maintains racial and ethnic boundaries in the US. We discuss some of the crucial questions, which include: What conditions constitute a…

See it for yourself →

SOAN 246 · Post-Communism and New Democracies83

Sociology

POL 246 FDR: SS4 Social Science - Group 4 Distribution Same as SOAN 246. A comparative analysis of transition from Communism in the countries of the former Soviet bloc. Cases of successful and unsuccessful transitions to civil society,…

See it for yourself →

SOAN 282 · Commodification of Nature83

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,…

See it for yourself →

Furthest-right subjects

SOAN 256 · The History of Violence in America0

Sociology

FDR: HU Humanities Distribution Prerequisite: at least junior class standing. Same as HIST 256. An examination of the social origins, evolution, and major forms of extralegal, violent conflict in the United States, including individual and…

See it for yourself →

SOAN 263 · Poverty and Marginality in the Americas22

Sociology

LACS 263 FDR: SS4 Social Science - Group 4 Distribution In recent decades, some global transformations have increased inequality and marginality in various regions of the world. Neoliberalism has generated both opportunities and challenges…

See it for yourself →

Why this number, in plain words

Share of courses described from the left. Percent of all courses in the group whose Framing reading is leftward: the description frames its subject one-sidedly to the left.

Counted: all courses in the group, including N and I. No interval is published for this number.

Readings are of catalog description text, not of teaching, syllabi or individual professors.

Details: exact rows, definitions and method

Name	Metric	Value	95% interval	n	scored
Washington and Lee University · Sociology	bias_left_share	16.5	—	79	—
Sociology	bias_left_share	15.3	14.5 – 16.2	7,243	—

Formula: 100 * count(bias_cat = 'L') / n
Interval: Wilson score 95% (wilson_interval)
Model / prompt / snapshot: gpt-5.6-sol · r12 (2026-10-16-le49-r12) · 6df50b10
Metric caveats: Right-framed courses are almost absent (33 of 124,290); this run cannot tell catalog reality from model sensitivity. Compare schools with adjusted_ratio, not this raw share, because department mix differs.

Ask a question about Washington and Lee University · Make a school card