When Emily Teetor-Crouth registered for her first Basic Program course at the University of Chicago Graham School in 2024, she wasn’t just exploring a new intellectual path; she was stepping into a family tradition nearly fifty years in the making.
A luxury retail professional and horse-racing enthusiast, Emily is one of several members of her multigenerational family to take part in the Basic Program of Liberal Education for Adults. From her grandparents in the late 1970s to her own online classes today, the program has become a thread that connects generations through a shared love of ideas, conversation, and lifelong learning.
“I’m proud to attend UChicago and to be in such an amazing and unique program,” Emily said. “It’s a nurturing and fostering environment for people who have learned non-traditionally and want to be lifelong learners.”
Emily’s Basic Program Experience
Emily came to the program excited for a rigorous study of foundational texts and liberal arts concepts. She has found value in exploring big ideas, such as considering the nature of virtue in a course on Plato’s Meno.
“I think the liberal arts are really important,” Emily said. “I know the program originally started as the Great Books program, and they’re books that everyone should read because of their significance and how much they’re culturally referenced.”
Class sessions in the Basic Program follow a Socratic format with instructors posing questions and leading a discussion rather than presenting a top-down lecture. Emily appreciates having the support of instructors and a community of peers to help find her way through texts that are often dense and challenging but ultimately rewarding. The program’s flexible format allows her to contribute to online discussions from her home in Upstate New York, and she plans to attend in person when she returns to Chicago in the fall.
“I feel that I can really participate, and that helps me retain the information better, and I learn equally as much from my peers as I do from my professors and also myself,” she said. “I’ll have surprising insights that I don’t think I’d necessarily have if I wasn’t being prompted.”
According to Basic Program instructor Cynthia Rutz, it’s been a pleasure to teach a student like Emily, who comes to class with strong roots in the program and a passion for engaging with the material.
“Emily is an enthusiastic learner, always speaks up in class, and has excellent things to say,” Cynthia said.
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An Inter-generational Commitment to Education
Emily came to the Basic Program having already seen what the curriculum had to offer through her family’s experiences. Her grandmother, Elaine Stenhouse, was the first in the family to complete the program, graduating in 1983. Emily’s grandfather, Wallace Stenhouse, who had previously attended law school at UChicago, finished the following year.
Meanwhile, Wallace’s mother (Emily’s great-grandmother), Christine Stenhouse, relocated from Florida to Chicago’s Hancock Building to be closer to family. Living just across the street from where UChicago courses were being offered, she decided to keep her mind engaged by enrolling in the Basic Program. She was in her 90s when she completed the curriculum in 1987.
For Emily, one of the most striking things about her family’s connection to the Basic Program is how it didn’t end with graduation. Her grandparents remained engaged in Graham programs for decades, continuing to read, discuss, and learn alongside a community of fellow thinkers. More recently, her aunt Shelley began taking Open Enrollment courses too. Lifelong learning, Emily realized, wasn’t just a value in her family; it was a shared practice, passed down and still unfolding.
“Once I graduate in 2028, I may decide to complete additional schooling from UChicago, as well as other programs,” Emily said. “I plan on taking classes at Graham and UChicago alumni courses until I am very old like my family has. I want to keep learning for as long as I am able to.”
Legacy and Learning
In the Basic Program, Emily has built on her grandparents’ legacy while becoming a valued member of her cohort. To Graham School Director of Academics Zoë Eisenman, that sense of intellectual community is one of the best aspects of the Basic Program.
“As they progress through the four-year curriculum together, they build a conversation with each other and make connections that are often difficult to find elsewhere,” Zoë said. “By exploring great books, students are able to address serious questions about human life in a way that is collaborative and collegial. The discussions expand people’s perspectives since they include people with diverse careers, life experience, and backgrounds, and so students can have meaningful conversations with people they might not ordinarily encounter.”
That community has gone through significant changes over recent years, thanks in large part to online courses. According to Cynthia, students like Emily, who has taken classes remotely from Upstate New York, represent a new chapter for the Basic Program. With courses accessible from anywhere, the program is becoming more welcoming to people at different stages of their lives, who may live across the country or around the world.
“Now that we have students of all ages, diversity of opinion is a given,” Cynthia said. “I am so glad to be living through this new era of the Basic Program where students of any age feel free to participate.”
Emily is not the only person with a family history in the program. Several parent-child pairs have participated over the years, taking classes together to connect and share meaningful conversations, even when they live far apart.
“I have led classes where a mom and dad as well as their son and daughter-in-law all took the same class from different states,” Cynthia said.
Other students have enrolled after hearing about the program from their alumni parents. To Zoë’s knowledge, however, Emily is the first person to have so many generations of her family participate.
“I think that’s a real testament to the impact that the Basic Program has, not just on the individual taking the classes, but on their family, friends, and extended circle,” Zoë said. “It changes the way they think about themselves and society, and that has an impact that spreads out like ripples in water.”
At the Graham School, the pursuit of knowledge is personal and deeply transformative. Emily’s journey reflects the enduring spirit of the Basic Program, a place where curiosity is cultivated, diverse paths to learning are honored, and community spans across time and family. Her story is a powerful reminder that it’s never too late or too unconventional to join a vibrant circle of lifelong learners.
Learn more about the Basic Program.
