Research Concept
“To the field of philosophers belongs, we believe, if to anything, also geography …” wrote the ancient geographer Strabon in the first sentence of his seventeen-volume work on the geography of the ancient world. The author, writing around the time of the birth of Christ, brings together two disciplines that belong to entirely different areas of the modern academic landscape, the earth sciences and the humanities. As a result of this division we have also lost the fundamental insight into the significance that the interdependence of space and knowledge takes on in those complex processes of alterations in the spatial environment and in the action guided by various forms of knowledge. The Excellence Cluster Topoi reconnects these fields again. (…)
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Research Design
The cluster is subdivided into five research areas. Four of them concentrate on the time from the prehistoric to late antiquity: The Research Area Spatial Environment (A) is concerned with spatial environment and conceptual design, the Research Area Historical Spaces (B) focuses on the mechanisms of control and on the social meanings that are assigned to spaces, while the area Perception and Representation (C) is inquiring into the perception and representation of spaces and spatiality in ancient languages, texts, images, and actions; the researchers of Theory and Science (D) finally analyze the role that space and spatiality play in ancient theories and sciences. Beside these four areas, there is the central Area Transformations (E), which studies the processing of ancient ideas of space, spatial orders and spatial cognition in later cultures down to the present day.
This investigation includes a focus on questions of how ancient conceptions of space can apply to current discussions and challenges. The central instrument for accomplishing this goal was the generation of several cross sectional groups, which not only promote a dialogue between the various research groups, but also, most importantly, assess the implications and possible applications of the cluster’s research on ancient spaces. The topics of these cross sectional groups range from questions of the history of science and the culture theory, to the spread of space-related knowledge through ancient cultures, up to the presentation of ancient spaces in museums.
Research Equipment
Topoi selectively invests in areas outside the work of the Cluster, thereby yielding sustained added value at highly diverse levels. For the protection of materials through digitalisation, and the long-term securing and archiving of objects of research, Topoi has, for example, invested in two pieces of equipment (…)