St. John's College is unique in American higher education. All classes are conducted as seminars. No textbooks are used; instead, students, along with their tutors (professors) work through the original texts in philosophy, literature, history, mathematics, science, economics, theology, and political science. St. John's College is a community dedicated to liberal education. Such education seeks to free men and women from the tyrannies of unexamined opinions and inherited prejudices. It also endeavors to enable them to make intelligent, free choices concerning the ends and means of both public and private life. At St. John's, freedom is pursued mainly through thoughtful conversation about great books of the Western tradition.