H-Empire seeks to bring together scholars and others interested in sharing resources, research and questions concerning the origin, development, working and decline of empires, rather broadly defined across academic disciplines and professional interests, chronological time periods, and geographical regions. Topics could range from the politics of the early-modern Ottoman Empire to the literature of nineteenth-century British Inida, from questions of theory concerning postcolonialism to questions of economics concerning land taxes.

What links those is the relevance of empire as an idea, structure, set of relationships, and practice, as well as a contested ideological terrain, which raises newer questions about representation and contestation, discontinuities as much as continuities. The intended audience would include students, academics, authors, and others interested in how empires rise, work and fall, as well as how they influence larger questions about culture, society, economics and politics. Some of those questions and influences might be contemporary, others might not be. What might help distinguish this network is its 'imperial' grasp across chronological, geographical, and disciplinary borders in an effort to develop a broader and deeper 'global'
and 'comparative' conversation about imperialism, colonialism, and empire.
H-Empire services would include general dialogue, sharing of references, syllabi, and other materials, reviewing of relevant books, journals and films, and, perhaps, the holding of a 'virtual' conference on 'Empire.'