The emphasis on the philosophy of the place, as within the framework of the graduate program, is to provide a reflection on the conceptual foundations of cultural studies in terms of the “Spatial Turn”.
Many difficulties of cultural space-studies are closely connected with fundamental philosophical problems, in the examination and clarification of which the philosophy of place could provide a useful lens. Four pre-existing areas of difficulty are here to be highlighted:
- The lack of systematization in the concepts and dichotomies used in the discussion of cultural studies (space vs. place, lieu vs. espace, site vs. non-site, etc.)
- The danger of a strict opposition between space and time, as it has arisen in a critical turn against the "temporocentrism" in the thinking of the 19th and early 20th century.
- The tension between the idea of space as a social construction, as often pursued in sociology, and the idea of a determination by the space resulting from the reception of an older tradition of geography.
- The conflicting assessment of current political and social processes, which are interpreted both as a return and as a disappearance of space/place.