It has been well recognized that the study of the excitations of the nucleon can shed light on the nonperturbative aspects of QCD. New opportunities for such study will be opened in the next few years with the commissioning of experiments in Hall B of the Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility (CEBAF) at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (JLab). Photo- and electroproduction studies of single and double pions, rhos, omegas, and kaons will be conducted with unprecedented precision. The Hall B CLAS detector is a major step forward, promising to provide kinematically complete measurements of cross sections and spin observables. The task of extracting new insights from such detailed measurements will require close coordination between experimental and theoretical physicists.To help optimize this interface between theory and experiment, a joint CEBAF/INT workshop was held at the Institute of Nuclear Theory in Seattle, September 9-13, 1996. The foci of the 1996 workshop included: N → N∗ transition form factors as predicted by QCD-inspired models and their experimental consequences; theoretical techniques employing QCD sum rules, perturbative QCD, and lattice QCD; reaction theories of photo- and electro-production of mesons; theoretical issues in the eta meson, vector meson, and two-pion production channels; progress in developing amplitude analyses for the available and expected data; the relationship between the Hall B program and those of other new experimental facilities.This proceeding will serve readers as both a current perspective on the field and a guide to future experimental and theoretical research directions.
