  The polarization of light across individual spectral lines contains
information about the circumstellar environment on very small spatial scales.
We have obtained a large number of high precision, high resolution
spectropolarimetric observations of Herbig Ae/Be, Classical Be and other
emission-line stars collected on 117 nights of observations with the HiVIS
spectropolarimeter at a resolution of R=13000 on the 3.67m AEOS telescope. We
also have many observations from the ESPaDOnS spectropolarimeter at a
resolution of R=68000 on the 3.6m CFH telescope. In roughly ~2/3 of the
so-called "windy" or "disky" Herbig Ae/Be stars, the detected H-alpha linear
polarization varies from our typical detection threshold near 0.1% to over 2%.
In all but one HAe/Be star the detected polarization effect is not coincident
with the H-alpha emission peak but is detected in and around the obvious
absorptive part of the line profile. The qu-loops are dominated by the
polarization in this absorptive region. In several stars the polarization
varies in time mostly in the absorptive component and is not necessarily tied
to corresponding variations in intensity. This is a new result not seen at
lower resolution. In the Be and emission-line stars, 10 out of a sample of 30
show a typical broad depolarization effect but 4 of these 10 show weaker
effects only visible at high resolution. Another 5 of 30 show smaller
amplitude, more complex signatures. Six stars of alternate classification
showed large amplitude (1-3%) absorptive polarization effects. These detections
are largely inconsistent with the traditional disk-scattering and
depolarization models.

Astrophysics