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:

1. 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.)
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. The conflicting assessment of current political and social processes, which are interpreted both as a return and as a disappearance of space/place.