Autumn 2015

Cover Story

The Well Curve

Tropical diseases are undermining intellectual development in countries with poor health care—and they’re coming here next

by Harriet A. Washington

Articles

The Sweet Briar Opportunity

Small colleges with too few applicants and large universities with too many should work together

by Carol T. Christ

Hope Is the Enemy

Caring for a patient suffering from dementia means coming to terms with the frustrating paradoxes of memory and language

by Dasha Kiper

The Mysteries of Attraction

Its many splendors do not only include the carnal: animate, inanimate … love it all

by Edward Hoagland

Capital of Willows

On a trip to North Korea, a writer remembers his troubled father, a victim of the “Forgotten War”

by Eben Wood

Test of Faith

The Roman Catholic Church may forgive us our sins—but can it be forgiven for its own?

by Mark Edmundson