Q.and A.

How children imagine God, Robert Coles; life cycles of revolutions, Simon Schama; literature reveals essential truths, William Alfred; strengths of American universities, Derek Bok; 1930s odyssey of a black female MD, Sara Lawrence Lightfoot; mysteries of matter, Sheldon Glashow; the myth of America's decline, Joseph Nye, Jr; winners and losers in dieting, William Bennett; art, avant-garde, and feminist theory, Susan Suleiman; on the depletion of ozone, James Anderson; colonial religion and witch hunts, David Hall; the mathematics of randomness, Persi Diaconis; challenges facing higher education, Henry Rosovsky; on the sublimity of Shakespeare, Marjorie Garber; Islam, religion for one-seventh of the world, William Graham, Jr; ballistics of baseball, Dudley Herschbach; big bird and the child's universe, Gerald Lesser; establishing women as role models, Florence Ladd; historical perspectives on World War II, Charles Maier; the art, business, and craft of journalism, Bill Kovach; the nature of freedom, Orlando Patterson; Japan, myths among mysteries, Edwin Reischauer; rules and moral behaviour, Frederick Schauer; the rhyme and meter of life, Mary Karr; history of scientific discovery, I. Bernard Cohen; how to parent a happy child, Jerome Kagan; help wanted - leaders, not managers, Abraham Zaleznik; art transforms experience, Myra Mayman; rain forest destruction threatens biodiversity, E. O. Wilson; the changing concept of friendship, Jan Ziolkowski; the new spirituality in America, Ronald Theimann; to sleep, perchance to dream, J. Allan Hobson; unearthing archaeological myths, Stephen Williams; city and suburban architecture, Alex Kreiger; ancient heroes and the poetry of wonder, Seamus Heaney.