The liberal arts programs at the University of Chicago Graham School support the school’s commitment to ongoing education in the liberal arts as the center of lifelong learning. The essence of a liberal education is the ability to read deeply, listen closely, think critically, and communicate effectively. It gives one a sense of the big picture and how things relate to one another. “The liberally educated person,” University of Chicago President Robert Maynard Hutchins said, “has a mind that can operate well in all fields. He may be a specialist in one field. But he can understand anything important that is said in any field and can see and use the light that it sheds upon his own. The liberally educated person is at home in the world of ideas and in the world of practical affairs, too, because he understands the relation of the two.”