This book is based on talks presented at the Summer School on Interactions between Homotopy theory and Algebra held at the University of Chicago in the summer of 2004. The goal of this book is to create a resource for background and for current directions of research related to deep connections between homotopy theory and algebra, including algebraic geometry, commutative algebra, and representation theory. The articles in this book are aimed at the audience of beginning researchers with varied mathematical backgrounds and have been written with both the quality of exposition and the accessibility to novices in mind.