On your screen is the second issue of COPAS: Current Objectives in Postgraduate American Studies in Germany. This volume is both an addendum to the first and the outcome of last fall’s PostGraduateForum at the Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz. This year we were less fortunate in soliciting contributions, as many presenters’ projects are nearing completion and were thus not available for publication here. This is good news for the PGF presenters. For us, however, it created some anxiety as to the survival of our young and still vulnerable publication project.

We are currently working to implement an operable Forum site which will enable our readers to respond better to single contributions or the project as a whole. We are also thinking of better ways of reaching and enlarging our audience and circle of contributors. If you are working in the field of American Studies, but have not heard of either the PostGraduateForum nor COPAS, here is your chance to get acquainted —contact the editors at the University of Regensburg.

This year’s PostGraduateForum Conference will be held in Munich, Nov 9-11, 2001. Nicole Soost and Torsten Graff will be sending out their call for papers shortly. For further information and reference, contact them at nisos7@yahoo.de and torstengraff@gmx.de.

COPAS, like the PGF, is devoted to active scholarly exchange between contributors and their audiences. The editors therefore encourage readers of COPAS to voice their opinions on single contributions and thus help to make the journal a lively forum for exchange. We always welcome suggestions on how to improve this "work in progress." The editors also thank the Bavarian American Academy (BAA) for supporting the initial stages of this project. If you stumbled upon this page by accident, we hope to have aroused your curiosity and find you reading also the first issue—and all that are to follow, of course. In case you’re already an ardent COPASionado, enjoy the new issue!