Interdisciplinary Research Environment
METEΩΡΑ is part of the international research cooperation TRANSMARE, an interdisciplinary Institute for the Study of Transfer of People, Goods and Ideas from Antiquity to the Present Day, based at the University of Trier, Germany.
In the research network TRANSMARE, more than 21 scholars have joined forces since 2015 to explore maritime space across epochs. Starting from the current globalization debates, which shape not only the economy but increasingly also science, art and culture, the analysis of maritime economies can lead to a deeper understanding of economic, political and cultural practices. Starting from the assumption that maritime connections are not just transportation routes but ’sites‘ of cultural interaction that serve to exchange goods, commodities, artifacts, and ideas, important insights for both the present and the future can be gained by studying them in the perspective of long duration. Globalization effects can be traced as far back as antiquity, closely related to the intensive use of maritime connections, increasingly effective transportation cost economics, and the growing importance of transporting people and goods on a large scale and over long distances. Tracing this phenomenon from antiquity to the present, highly innovative fields of discourse can be opened up that combine qualitative methods of source study with quantitative methods of analysis of economic development.
The scope of TRANSMARE’s investigation consequently spans from antiquity to the present. Considered are maritime links of the Mediterranean, Black, North, Baltic, Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans that contribute early to the formation of international ‚trade networks‘. They can be used to demonstrate global mechanisms and systems of long duration, to identify maritime economies across disciplines, and to complement Maritime Studies with a methodologically concise approach.
