Earlier this summer, I had the opportunity to spend a week with a group of graduate students and public/private sector professionals from around the country. While the topic that brought us together was historic preservation, participants came from diverse fields and included planners, historians, art conservators, museum curators, academics, community activists, carpenters, preservationists, and a building deconstruction specialist, among others. The background, experience, age, race/ethnicity, and focus of the participants was as varied as