Following the increased discussion in the humanities and social sciences about the question of the genesis and historical transformation of spaces, the International Research Training Group (IRTG) “Between Spaces” seeks to stimulate innovative research on globalisation and identify the ‘interstitial spaces’ to which globalisation has given rise since the colonial period until today. The IRTG thereby sees globalisation processes as emerging contexts of global integration shaped by regional fragmentations and conflicts. Its research programme focuses on three main periods of globalisation: the colonial period, the late nineteenth century, and the early twentieth century. Additionally, the programme is centered on the history of globalisation from the Latin American perspective. The programme’s methodological and theoretical approach is oriented to the transnational and transcultural perspectives and debates that have been developed in recent decades by  historical disciplines,  social sciences and humanities in the area of transfer and translation research.
Like no other place in the Americas, Mexico is the hub of globalisation and an interface between North and South, East and West: from the conflict-ridden history of relations with the United States since the nineteenth century, to its particular geopolitical and economic position in the present; from the sixteenth century Manila galleons, that sailed between Acapulco and Asia, to Mexico’s special positioning in twentieth century global conflicts.
While Mexico’s transregional linkages are a key concern of the programme, it also supports dissertation and research projects dealing with other countries and regions in Latin America.