I came across the book "Cohen-Macaulay Representations" by Graham J. Leuschke and Roger Wiegand, and now I'm wondering if this is an active area of research. 
If yes, then 
>1. what are some of the big names in the field?
>2. what are some of the active problems that people are interested in solving?
>3. what are some of the conferences/seminars (closely) related to this topic?
>4. what connections does it have to other fields?