Dickinson College commits to offer its students the privileges and opportunities a traditional liberal arts education. Liberal education is more of a way of thinking than specific content, although both are important. The specific disciplines of liberal education -- all of which are to be engaged by the student -- are called the Liberal Arts and comprise the humanities, social sciences, sciences and the arts. Liberal arts embraces and addresses the way in which knowledge is actually used in the world of work and civil society. Liberal education calls for a creative synthesis between liberal and practical education throughout the course of study. It is intentionally and ultimately pragmatic, while remaining conceptually rigorous. The ultimate accountability of a liberal education is the measure of its graduates to use knowledge thoughtfully in the wider world. Dickinson College is committed to advancing among the general public, a practical appreciation and support of liberal education not only for the college itself, but also for all liberal arts institutions. Liberal education and the institutions that embrace it were envisioned by our nation's founding fathers as the most efficient and useful approach to education, one that's necessary to establish and advance America's distinctive form of government and the qualities of a democratic society. As such, a liberal education has served, and continues to serve as an invaluable material asset to our nation. Dickinson College continues to commit itself to advancing this larger conception of a liberal education, a conception without which the United States of America loses its original and enduring distinction.