Understanding Cultural and Human Geography

by Paul Robbins

24 Lectures 1 Writing the World: The Mapmakers Craft 2 The Problem with Geographical Determinism 3 Anthropocene: The Age of Human Impact 4 Climate Change and Civilization 5 Global Land Change 6 The End of Global Population Growth 7 The Agricultural Puzzle 8 Disease Geography 9 Political Ecology 10 Economic Geography: Globalization Origins 11 The Columbian Exchange 12 Uneven Development and Global Poverty 13 The New Global Economy 14 Restless Humanity: The Migration Conundrum 15 Urbanization: The Rise of New World Cities 16 Geography of Language 17 Understanding Cultural Geography 18 The Importance of Place 19 Cultural Commodification 20 Culture, Power, and the Politics of Meaning 21 The Geopolitical Imagination 22 Regionalism and the Rise of New States 23 Supranationalism: Taking on Big Problems 24 Future Geographies

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Geography, Audiobook, Science, Politics, Environment

13 pages, Audible Audio

First published January 1, 2014

Reviews

[Pat Rolston · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderfully executed delivery of compelling content that educates as to humanity’s influence on our environment and vice versa. The interactions of humanity yields culture and this profound process is explored and revealed in the context of geography. The end result is an intellectual adventure that leaves us with a deeper understanding of our world and ourselves. There is a high bar for the professors who Great Courses commissions and Professor Paul Robbins is one of the best.

[Yaaresse · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's ok. I'd go 2 1/2 if that were an option, but can't quite commit to a 3.0.

I think I expected more from this course than it was made to deliver. It is very much an introductory course and only briefly touches on a wide range of topics. Nothing wrong with that except I expected to be more challenged. Also,I found some of the presenter's arguments to be cherry-picked to support what seem to be his pet theories or POV and sometimes lacking substance.

The section on maps was interesting, with some good examples and clear explanations. OTOH, there were errors in his lecture about languages, and I found his argument that extreme poverty has a "positive" in making people highly creative in utilizing and conserving resources was poorly communicated. He made it sound like the impoverished were somehow lucky or doing the rest of the world a service somehow. I'm almost sure that's not the message he was trying to convey -- or at least I hope not.

[Ivy-Mabel Fling · Rating 5 out of 5]

An interesting introduction to the subject of human geography - how does our environment affect us and how do we affect our environment? The professor looks at this in several contexts and although you might know a lot of what he says, I found plenty of new information.

[Adrienne · Rating 4 out of 5]

So, it turns out that in my latest possible middle age I am interested in absolutely everything, even the things which bored me to tears in my youth. Hence, this series of lectures about geography. I loved learning about the languages, the politics, the ecology, the religion and the cultures associated with various geographies and how place influences so much, if not all of our lives. I enjoyed learning about the blessings and pitfalls of globalization. I especially appreciated the section on the forming of the European Union which is so timely given the Brexit vote.

I enjoyed this course and recommend it.

[Alcibiades · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the exact course everyone who's on the road should take. Cultural, political and economical geography is the essential elements to understand human societies, and there are a surprising numbers of questions relate to these issues could be answered by geography, or, by scientific means utilized by geogrphists. This is a great introductory course that I wish i could take before I start my journey.

[Rozarka · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting and well presented.

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was really good! All about the interconectedness of everything in the world in current (~2014) times and historical context. Not my usual archaeology/history/civilization content but still satisfying and informative.

[Dorien · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really accessible, I think most of it I already knew a bit about, but still very interesting to listen to. He brings up lots of relevant case studies. I would recommend it.

[Chad Kohalyk · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great intro to a field I have been interested in forever, but only took a couple of courses in university. The prof is great and has an engaging delivery, giving you an overview of the various subfields of geography and some of the problems and current issues in the field. I especially liked his contemporary references to Greece's crisis and the euro, Russia and Ukraine, the Syrian War, climate change, and others.

[Alex Shrugged · Rating 3 out of 5]

The lecturer, Paul Robbins, is a soft liberal, meaning that he accepts as true the propaganda on global warming, the causes of poverty and economic inequality, but he doesn't beat you over the head over it. Many of the things he says are worth listening to, so I listened to the end.

He has accepted that the oceans will rise 2 to 6 feet in the next 90 years or so. Because of that "fact", he makes assumptions based on his expertise, geography. One can hardly blame him for doing so. One cannot expect him to be an expert in everything. Certainly I am not an expert in everything, but I know enough to realize that the predictions on climate change have been a moving target since the 1960s. That means global warming might happen, but so far it hasn't happened. It is easy enough to figure out that the Earth is warming. After all... Canada and most of the northern United States used to be under glaciers. Now they are not. It must be warmer now than it was then. One can assume that it will get warmer still, but exactly how quickly that might happen seems to depend on who is talking (or screaming) about it. So, I am not sure, and I don't see how the lecturer in this audiobook can be sure either.

In any case, he is mostly talking about the history of global/geographic effects on regional culture. He does get into economics, and predatory lending. His remarks on this subject are reasonable, but not definitive. I'm not sure what his alternative would be.

My big complaint is his throw-away remark about The Peace of Westphalia that established the idea of sovereign nations. This treaty ended the 30 Years War (around the 1630s), the most vicious war until World War I came around. The Treaty applied to the combatants: France, what we would call Germany today, Sweden... basically all of Europe. Yet the author mentions off hand that Africa was not made part of the Treaty... as if The Peace of Westphalia was a world-wide treaty. It was not. However, The Peace of Westphalia has influenced attitudes world-wide over the centuries, so that nationality seems natural to us today. It's idea of nationality established lines of responsibility, so that a war would not break out unless an army actually crossed an established border. It also outlawed government-sanctioned piracy (privateering).

I probably will not listen to this audiobook again, although it has given me a better opinion of liberals in general. Apparently, they are not all total knuckleheads. Amazing. :-)

[Darcy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found a lot of the information to be very introductory to me, personally. However, this is a great book regardless and it would be wonderful if everyone gave it a listen at least once in their lifetime. It was very relevant, accurate, diverse, and held my interest throughout. He manages explores almost every global issue using human culture and geography which raises many great conversations and food for thought. It covers the progression of cultures throughout time, including their language, etc. There was a lot of great representation and discussion of cultures and ethnic groups that oftentimes seem to be left out of many educational books/lectures/material. It truly seemed to be about human geography and culture.

One line that really caught my attention was, “Jackson wonders, if searching for authentic cultural products (those products untainted by modern economies) is just a little bit paternalistic and colonial. Why should aboriginal people maintain their authentic culture and not be tainted by the global circulating economics that the rest of us experience in a cosmopolitan world.” With the melting of cultures discussed throughout this book, he brings up the point that aboriginal people do not owe white people anything for the sake of our entertainment or for the sake of our wanting to exploit their culture. This is just one of many great concept, such as climate change, you're left to ponder and reflect on by the end of this read.

[Mark Lawry · Rating 4 out of 5]

My best friend who claims to be totally uninterested in economics highly rated this Great Course. I had to listen to figure out why a course on economics was so interesting to him. Yep, solid economics. It started out slow and covered the Malthusian ideas of scarcity, doom and gloom, and then climate change. More doom and gloom. Then in Chapter 6 Robbins starts talking about why Malthus has been wrong for generations and is going to continue to be wrong. The world is not heading to scarcity, it is instead heading to abundance. Chapter 6 covers the fact that global populations are now heading into decline. We all know Great Courses like to break down any concept into 1/2 hour lectures. As usual, some ideas are larger than 1/2 hour lectures. Why we now see nation after nation joining the falling population club is well beyond the single lecture given here. Then Robbins continues with equally great lectures through the rest of the course.

[Don Heiman · Rating 4 out of 5]

In 2015 The Teaching Company released Prof Paul Robbin’s superb 24 lecture Audible course “Understanding Cultural and Human Geography.” The course examines the geographic migration and urbanization stimulants that impact world population movements and economies. These population movement events include the migration and urbanization forces that triggered technology and economic needs of population in and out migrant movements. These migration triggers are caused by international as well as local geographic climate changes, famine, war, and chaos pull-push migration factors. The 24 lectures and course guide also discuss map making, food production, economics associated with wealth and poverty, political events, and the geographic impact of community spiritual social formations. The 10 hour course is full of insights and very interesting. (P)

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

Before listening to this series, I actually had little understanding of what the study of geography actually was. I find the concept of geography to be very interesting and I was certainly illuminating to learn the various ways it could be applied. However, I found that even after listening to twelve hours, I didn't learn very much at all. The information presented was mostly very basic information I already knew, just used as a way of explaining geography. So three stars because I do find the topic interesting and think the course was well done, but ultimately I didn't learn much, which is what I enjoy most about these courses.

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got this lecture as I associated Geography with Cartography. I thought I was getting lectures on map making. I was mistaken. Instead this is a series of lectures on Economic/Anthropology/and environmental studies. To put it in other words. I was tricked but Im glad I was. This was a fascinating look at how humans are interconnected and a broad look at the whole structure of humanity.

These lectures even kept me interested in the economic portions and that is a feat in and of itself. Good course and Im glad I went through it.

[Eric · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought the lectures were all fairly informative, although the author is clearly a "global warming" sympathizer with all the attendant statist baggage. I was drawn to the final lecture which posed several contemporary locations that hold out hope that even where tensions run high there is hope that "getting along" is possible without terror and mayhem. Will hold the item for a couple more days to take notes on what is transpiring there.

[Silas · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an interesting series of lectures. It went beyond what I would have thought of as geography, linking topics from linguistics, economics, political science, and history in interesting ways, which is something I always love to see happen. The lecturer presented the material capably and had some insightful observations, though it did feel a bit scattered in focus at times.

[Juniper · Rating 5 out of 5]

This course was nothing like I expected - it was so much more. From an explanation of why Europe gained ascendency (spoiler: plundering the New World) and why China’s rise is more like a return to normality, to why globalization will never result in a remotely homogeneous culture, I learned a lot about how the world shapes us, even as we shape the world.

[Stèf · Rating 4 out of 5]

Critical Thinking Maps edition. Never take anything at immediate face value, no map is perfect and there always has to be a compromise, thus all maps are biased whether by accident or not. I truly feel like I learnt a lot.

[Andrew McLaughlin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thought is was ok. Talked more about the environment than I was expecting, interesting stories but thought it was a bit too long. Wanted more city/state/county/continent geography and human discussion, but was a good approach and understandable course.

[Thomas Beard · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wish it weren't cliche to say that a book or lecture series will "change the way you see the world." Because this course literally changes the way you see the world. Funny, engaging, surprising.

[Denise Norwood · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely fascinating. Everyone should listen to this course!

[Jeff J. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty dry subject matter, but the lecturer is passionate about the topic and manages to make it interesting.

[Joseph L. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Watch a detailed review along with my favorite ideas and takeaways at:
https://youtu.be/2_QFsj0ZTy8

[Rita Li · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good overall introduction to topics for curious learners to get a general picture of the field or to dive in using other materials in the future.

[cypher · Rating 5 out of 5]

touches on a lot of things, good information, good to have as a base for general knowledge.
relaxing to listen to.

[Pavlo Illiashenko · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would say that this a collection of lectures on human geography. I don't if such discipline exists formal, but it exists in a real life. There are a lot of interesting stuff happening with people everywhere they live: economics, culture, anthropology, politics, etc. Those lectures about all that interesting topics, although in the cross-country, cross-cultural perspective.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Listened to through Audible... Very much enjoyed. Engaging narrator and interesting subject matter.

[Ilinca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Four stars, with one amendment: this is just for beginners. Not bad, just bear in mind, if you already know the basics, don't bother.

[Annie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a interesting book about how civilizations and cultures evolve due to influences from geography and proximity to other cultures and countries.