Prof. Dr. Ottmar Ette

Mission Statement

Beyond Area Studies,
TransArea Studies point out mobile conceptions of spaces and places.

Beyond spatial history,
TransArea Studies emphasize vectorial dynamisms and processes.

Beyond traditional comparative studies,
TransArea Studies focus on border-crossing, on entanglements and multiple logics.

Beyond interdisciplinary studies,
TransArea Studies intensify transdisciplinary approaches and perspectives.

Beyond international relationships,
TransArea Studies analyze translocal, transregional, transnational and transcontinental phenomena.

Beyond continuous territorial conceptions,
TransArea Studies design innovative discontinuous and fractal forms of understanding: internal and external relations of archipelagic and transarchipelagic patterns.

For TransArea Studies, spaces and territories are made out of movements and vectorizations: frontiers are understood by their criss-crossings at a global scale: circulations of knowledge in specific historical periods of accelerated globalization: transcultural landscapes translated into new prospective horizons.

Ottmar Ette
University of Potsdam