Today we’re highlighting for you a new course posted on Stanford University’s iTunes site. Originally presented by Stanford Continuing Studies (where I happily spend my days), Global Geopolitics is taught by geography expert Martin Lewis, and “examines the global political situation from a geographical perspective. Topics include: how the countries of the world were formed and came to occupy their present territorial configurations; border conflicts and other spatially based international issues; struggles for secession from established states and movements for territorially based autonomy; and the development and enlargement of supranational organizations such as the European Union (EU) and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). While the course is globally comprehensive, special attention will be given to current sites of geo-political tension. Maps will be used extensively for both descriptive and analytical purposes.”
[NOTE: This is an enchanced podcast that allows you to see images and maps referenced in the lectures. To view them, click on View, then Show Artwork, in iTunes. This will let you see them on your computer.]
You can now download the first lecture. Additional lectures will be released in weekly installments. The course is also listed in our collection of Free Online Courses from top universities.
is anyone aware of other formats? I don’t use I-tunes
I find these classes fascinating, however, this class should really be a video class due to all the map references. There is apparently a video presentation that Professor Lewis is using during his lecture.
These classes are so interesting thanks to Martin Lewis’ amazing knowledge. For those who have an ipod touch, maps appears on the screen as Martin speaks, which makes this class very intereactive.
Can anybody see the maps and images referenced in the lecture via the “View Artwork”? For me it only displays the cover image of the course and nothing else. Without the maps it’s not really worthwhile to listen to it. Any help would be very much appreciated. I’m using iTunes 9 and according to “Get info” there is only the cover image included in the file.
I believe my last message was caught up in the spam filter, because of posting an URL inside the message.
If you have iTunes 9 there will be a new menu item called “Chapters” and the fourth icon on the bottom left will reveal the embedded maps.
On Mac you can also use Quicktime X (part of Snow Leopard) to display the maps:
You have to locate the actual file on your disk by clicking with the right mouse button on the respective episode and select “Show in Finder”. Then open it with Quicktime X.