Whatever else written history may offer, it is bound to exhibit the preoccupations of its authors as faithfully as it records the experience of its subjects. As I understand the purpose of this symposium, it is an effort to sample such preoccupations–to produce a decent reflection of the concerns of the moment–unmediated by much effort to see how well they seem to fit evidence of the past. Although living, breathing historians are probably unused to being cast in the role of artifacts, it may prove an interesting and useful innovation.