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Dear H-German Members, Over the past two years, H-German has worked hard to expand the interaction between the "virtual" exchanges that takes place on the list and "real-world" encounters in conferences and other vital academic settings. Thus, we have broadened the scope of our conference reports (German Studies Association, Conference Group for Central European History, Sixteenth Century Society and Conference), organized several forums on topics resonating beyond academe, and solicited a new series of Messages from Germany (MfG) that seek to bring a historical perspective on current social and cultural issues. Today, we are launching a new endeavor in this effort to move back and forth across the various intellectual spaces we inhabit. At this October's Conference of the German Studies Association in Washington, D.C., a roundtable will explore the theme: "Making it real: intellectual exchange, virtual space, and the public sphere" (full conference details are available at <http://www.g-s-a.org/conferences/2004/index.asp>). Taking a decidedly trans-Atlantic perspective and reflecting on the technological and structural changes in the academic world during recent decades, the roundtable aims to consider ways in which historians of Germany can effectively interject their arguments into a broad public sphere. As part of the panel description submitted to the GSA, the organizers proposed to expand participation in the discussion that will take place in Washington by soliciting input from H-German members in the weeks leading up to the conference. Thus, we hope to promote a truly interactive process in which international participation is not limited to passively even to reading a post-event report but serves to stimulate the panelists' commentary and thus shape the discussion at the conference itself. In order to facilitate this preliminary discussion, we are posting a summary of the proposed panel and brief comments from the four panel participants: Drew Bergerson, Harold Marcuse, Dirk Schumann, and Paul Steege. In Washington, the roundtable will be moderated by Konrad Jarausch. The editors invite and indeed encourage you to respond to these initial statements, offering comment, critique, and suggestions for further exploration. We hope that vigorous online discussion will stimulate the roundtable participants to further develop their ideas and will also establish a preliminary frame of reference for particularly engaged discussion for those participating in the panel, whether they find themselves on the podium or in the audience. H-German will post a post-conference report on this roundtable (as well as on many other panels from this year's conference), and we are optimistic about the possibilities that this truly dynamic process offers for broad engagement with the issues under consideration. Ultimately, this effort seeks to transgress the boundaries between speaker and audience, between participant and (distant) spectator and thus consider new ways to stage our professional academic encounters. In this experiment in scholarly exchange, we hope to offer a form of intellectual praxis that will itself become part of the discussion. Contributions to the discussion will be collected on a new page at the H-German website. We look forward to a fruitful exchange and thank you in advance for your engaged participation. Sincerely, Susan Boettcher Christopher Fischer David Imhoof Paul Steege H-German Editors
 Humanities & Social Sciences Online 
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