Though written by scholars firmly grounded in their special fields, these works will attempt to reach a wider audience by acknowledging problems confronted by the many branches of humanistic endeavor. At a time when scholars seem to speak to a narrower and narrower audience, it becomes essential that the common framework of humanistic investigation must be reasserted. We believe that the specialization and fragmentation of our field can be transcended and, without the trivializing effects of popularization, a sense of shared purpose can invigorate separate investigations and create a context for unified understanding of human creativity and imagination.