Editorial

We are proud to present the fourth issue of issue of COPAS (Current Objectives in Postgraduate American Studies). COPAS originated as a product of the Postgraduate Forum (PGF) at the American Studies Chair, University of Regensburg, Germany, in 1999 and aims to provide a platform for recent work by young German and International Americanists. Inviting contributions from various disciplines such as cultural studies and literary studies, COPAS is conceived as an interdisciplinary forum of presentation and discussion.

The current issue of COPAS unites contributions by two young doctoral candidates, Anja Becker (University of Leipzig) and Susanne Auflitsch (University of Regensburg). Anja Becker investigates the love affair between Simone de Beauvoir and the American writer Nelson Algren as reflected in three of de Beauvoir’s literary and biographical works. Susanne Auflitsch traces how the concept of the “New Woman” developed in American one-act plays of the 1910s. As COPAS is devoted to an active scholarly exchange between contributors and their audiences, we, the editors, encourage readers of COPAS to comment on individual contributions and thus help to make the journal a lively forum for exchange.

So maybe the COPAS online journal could also serve you as a forum of exchange and publication! If you are a young scholar working within the field of American Studies you are invited to send your contribution to the editors.

Now enjoy reading the fourth issue of COPAS!

Regensburg, December 2003

The Editors