Candidate Profile

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EXPERTISE
History - General
Journalism
Politics & Current Affairs
PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE WITH:
BIOGRAPHY
Mark Stanton is one of the most charismatic and entertaining members of various professions. With Degrees in multiple disciplines including, Performing Arts, Chinese, Asian Pacific Business, Broadcasting, and Education, his PhD research is about Developing Nations. He has a wide range of experiences in Industry, the Media and Education. Having originally been a child actor, he then went on to appear in the UK in almost every TV series of the 80’s including Soldier Soldier, Boon, Cross Roads, Coronation Street and too many other programmes to mention.

He is a retired Senior Lecturer, Module Leader and Governor with one Britain’s leading Universities. He lectured in the Media Department, the Business School and worked closely with the Chinese Department. This is in addition to being Communications Director of the CPSL-Group of renewable energy companies. He presents at International conferences around the world, is frequently asked to be an expert for radio and television programmes and is often asked to give guest lectures on cruise ships. He has extensive knowledge of the micro-generation industry and all aspects of television, both as an academic and Director of an MCS registered installation company.

PRESENTATIONS
1. Top 20 Useless Inventions in the World.
Everyone thinks that they have an idea for the best invention in the world. Everyone is going to need one and it will make him or her a fortune. The truth is far from this utopian idea. The British are famous for having had more patents issued than any other nation on Earth, but not all of them have been the roaring success that their inventors hoped for. What were some of the more useless inventions that have been granted a patent? In this lecture MarC Stanton examines some of the dafter ideas.

2. The Vikings. The Scourge or Saviour of Northern Europe?
Who were the Vikings and what did they ever do for us? What was the Viking culture? Did they just want to rape, pillage and murder or was there an alternative reason for their expansion across Europe and what were the lasting affects of their conquests?

3. The Moorish transformation of Spain and Portugal.
Lemons, dates, saffron, peaches, oranges, sugarcane, apricots, figs, cotton, pomegranate, rice, ginger, silk, etc., were all introduced by the Moors to the Iberian peninsula. The Moors were the nomadic inhabitants of the North African continent. They invaded the Iberian peninsula in 711, defeating the Visigoths, and established their rule for almost 800 years. This religious and cultural transformation changed the face of Spain and Portugal forever.

4. Marco Polo, the greatest con-artist in history; he never went to China.
Despite being famous for the most famous trip in history, new evidence points to the fact that Marco Polo never went to China. There are many references to other ‘foreign’ people in China at the time he was supposed to be there but no mention of Marco Polo. He makes no mention of the great Wall, despite apparently being a Governor of the very province that it runs through. He fails to mention that the Chinese drink tea or wear silk and the timeline of his travels are impossible today using modern transport. MarC Stanton will, in this lecture examine the facts behind the Marco Polo myth and present the evidence that Marco Polo was a publisher of an early version of the ‘Rough Guide’, written from other prisoner’s anecdotes, whilst he was in prison for debt and fraud.

5. The Ancient Greeks.
Being Greek wasn’t a nationality, it was a lifestyle or a way of thinking. It was a way of living. It was what separated you from other people, from Barbarians One of the problems with presenting anything about the ‘Ancient Greeks is that there isn’t really any such thing as the Ancient Greeks. It is a bit like describing the British from Stonehenge to Tudor times. Being Greek was away of life. It was the way that you thought and behaved that made you Greek. It wasn’t a nationality, it was an identity.

6. .Greek Gods and Goddesses
Worshiping the Gods has always been important to explain the unknown or understood. Zeus, Hades and Poseiden were the brother Gods that ruled the world. Zeus was the strongest and wisest of the three and ruled over the earth. Hades ruled the Underworld, the world of the dead. Poseidon ruled the seas. It is their offspring that provided the answers to peoples questions and created much of the history of the ancient civilisations. How did these ‘Gods’ Answer the questions of the day and provide succour to the people?
Why is the sea salty? Why do earthquakes happen? Where does the wind come from? Why does the sun shine and where does it go at night? Who invented musical instruments? What is lightning? What was the cause of the ‘Great Flood’. All of these questions have an answer from the Greek Gods. Discover how the family of Greek Gods provided answers for a whole civilisation whose effects can still be experienced today.

7. The rise and fall of the Romans
Civilising society has always been the aim of any controlling empire. The greatest of all Empires and civilisations, was possibly the Romans. What made the Romans so great and why did it all go wrong? Architecture, Government, literature, warfare, art, Emperors, Gladiators, baths, central heating, mythology, slaves and civilisation. The list is almost endless of the effects that the Romans had and are still having on the World today. Dr Stanton will explore the incredible Roman Empire from birth to eventual collapse.

8. The Mediterranean. The Cradle of Civilisation.
Giving birth to most of the modern civilisations of the world, the Mediterranean is the cradle of civilisation. The eruption of the Arabs with their dynamic new religion changed the dynamics of the Mediterranean in a remarkably short period of time. Anitioch is captured in 645 and by 711 Toledo falls to the Islamic forces. The Mediterranean arena is then a sea of 2 religions. The lands around the Mediterranean become an intellectual, spiritual and economic battlefield that neither side can afford to lose.
This battle continues for a thousand years until the New World and the Atlantic become more valuable and the Mediterranean becomes just a backwater, until the advent of the Suez canal.

9. The Seven Wonders of the World
Buried in the myths of time, the 7 wonders of the world have fascinated mankind for years. What are the 7 wonders of the World? The Great Pyramid of Giza, the Hanging gardens of Babylon, the statue of Zeus at Olympia, the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, the Colossus of Rhodes, and the Lighthouse of Alexandria. Only one of these achievements still exists, but where and what were the others. Is there any evidence to support their existence and why do they not exist now and why were they important?
Why are there only 7 of them, who created them, why are they all around the Mediterranean? The number 7 was chosen because it was the number of the 5 known planets plus the sun and moon. The list was created by the Greeks to illustrate the ability of man to equal the achievements of the Gods.

10. Pirates of the Mediterranean
Fighting from ship to ship, terrifying seafarers across the years, piracy has always been the scourge of travellers. Everyone has heard of pirates but where did it all start? Everyone has heard of the pirates of the Caribbean, but the truth is that they were operating in the Mediterranean hundreds of years before. The Greeks, the Romans the Egyptians they were all affected by piracy. This piracy had a major affect on the history of the world and affected the development of several major civilisations.

11. Did Dragons Really Exist?
Every culture on Earth has a legend about Dragons. Everyone knows that Dragons are big, green, scaly creatures that live in caves, eat virgins, fly through the air, breathe fire and have acid for blood. What about the truth? Could Dragons have really existed? This lecture examines the possibility that Dragons really could have walked on Earth. Using the science of Zoophology, which is the examination of mythical beasts, this lecture proves that Dragons could have existed. There are animals existing today that have acid blood and others that breathe fire. There are others that create gas in their stomachs and this could easily be hydrogen. This could explain the ability to fly and certainly the ability to breathe fire. Of course if a society was going to offer a sacrifice to the monstrous beast that lives in the hills and eats flesh then it made sense to offer the most precious of offerings, the virgin or better still, the virgin princess. In this lecture MarC Stanton looks at the possibility that Dragons could have existed and the reasons why it is impossible to find any remains of them.

12. The Green Revolution is Revolting
How realistic is the Green revolution? Can we all have a composting toilet and wind turbine at the bottom of the garden? Will electric cars be the future or is it all Government hype? This lecture will examine the possibilities of ‘Green’ power. How can you make money from going ‘green’? How can everyone in the country get the Government to actually pay them to heat their house? Who is really paying for those turbines in farmer’s fields? Is there any point in putting your rubbish in separate bins? How can we reduce our bills without wearing sandals and growing a beard? How can you heat your house to 55 degrees when it is minus 5 outside and get the government to pay you to do it? Do solar panels on your roof actually do any good? Why do some firms offer to give you free photovoltaic panels on your roof and you can use the free electricity? Can we all have a turbine on our roof?

13. Power of The ISIS Nightmare.
Where did ISIS start? Is the West to blame for ISIS? American Neo Conservatism and Islamic Fundamentalism are two sides of the same story. When Leo Strauss invented Neo Conservatism in the 1950’s Said Kotb came to the same conclusions about society and attempted to control society through Islamic Fundamentalism in a move, which led to the atrocities of Sept 11th and has now led to ISIS. Both ideologies believe in control of the masses and the creation of a moral, obedient, society.
The end of the Cold War with Russia meant that America became the Oligarchic power in the World and so had to find an enemy to justify its governmental control of society. The obvious candidate was Islamic Fundamentalism. The bicycle theory states that if you stop pedalling, you fall off. If America didn’t have an enemy to fight, the people of America, it was feared would stop working, the arms industry would become redundant and America would lose control of the finances of the World. There had to be a reason why the government needed to implement its policies and that reason was the never ending ‘War’ against the invisible enemy of freedom, Islamic Fundamentalism. Using historical examples and the theory of ‘Orientalism’, As a renowned expert on the presentation of developing nations, MarC Stanton in this lecture shall examine how these two philosophies are fundamentally identical and how Sept 11th and the rise of Islamic Fundamentalism came about.

14. War Reporting.
How do the news organisations of the World report armed conflict? How does the reporter remain neutral when they are in danger of being killed by either side? Are journalists still seen as neutral? It is essential for the functioning of a democratic system that the audience can rely on trustworthy and reliable news coverage. A blurring of the line between combatants and correspondents can endanger this. This lecture shall examine how, the news media can become weaponized. Neither the political involvement by news organizations nor the targeting of journalists as quasi-combatants is new. Al Jazeera’s bureaus in Kabul and Baghdad have been attacked by the United States. American journalists have been kidnapped in Iraq and elsewhere. Lebanese journalists critical of Syria have been murdered. On a broader scale, since 1991 580 journalists throughout the world have been killed because of their work, often on the orders of government or military officials. In this lecture MarC Stanton examines just what war reporting is all about and how the war journalist goes about their profession

15. Investigative Journalism.
What is an investigative journalist? It could be considered that all journalism should be investigative otherwise it is simply repetition. In this lecture MarC Stanton shall explore the importance and characteristics of investigative journalism in the context of ‘public interest’ from Watergate to the present day. Ethical and regulatory (allegations, privacy, anonymity, confidentiality) issues are discussed, with recent examples of undercover journalism, corporate corruption and miscarriages of justice. Although the victors may write history, legislation is written, or rather the first draft of legislation is written by investigative journalists. How it does this, is by its ability to highlight the successes and failures of the current legislation and the ability of these legislations to be circumvented by those with knowledge, power or financial resources. One of the main raison d’etres of investigative journalists is to constantly push at the boundaries of society and question the acceptability of the status quo. It is their job to question authority in its opinion and actions. An investigative journalist looks at the spirit of the law and questions the letter of the law.

16. What is News?
News has always been around. Information as to the location of the best fruit and animals would have been of importance to prehistoric man, the town crier and public declarations spread information amongst the general populace, but the news and the media that we are concerned with these days is the dissemination of information that may be contentious. This is closely tied into the development of capitalism and the changes to the class system. This ‘news’ was not only of value to the wealth creating society, but also to the political elite for the dissemination of political philosophy and the control of the masses. Ever since 1632 when the “Star Chamber” of London banned all newspapers, authorities have attempted to control or influence ‘the news’. From then on, it has been a constant battle between the news media and the authorities as to what can be published. The 4th Estate had arrived to the benefit of liberal democracies. So what is “news”? Or rather, what is journalism because the two are not the same? In this lecture, Marc Stanton will explain how Journalism claims to be the truth and indeed it usually is. However whose truth is it. Our journalism is the transmission of facts that have been sociologically presented to represent the ideologies of our society. To another society these facts would be a misrepresentation of the truth and a cynical manipulation of the truth. In our society we tend to present bad news. We are not the truthful arbitrators of news that we think we are. We present the news in the form that we consider the audience will accept and that means complying with the views of the status quo and the perceived news values of the “gatekeepers”.
News by definition has to be “new” or at least a new presentation (spin) of an old story.

17. The Empire Strikes Back. The History and Culture of the Chinese Empire up to the Revolution.
Tracing the development of the most famous civilization in history, MarC Stanton examines the fascinating Chinese culture from the time of the first Emperor Xin, who gave his name to the modern “China” through to the Revolution. Discover the philosophy and thought process behind the building of the Great Wall of China and how it was breached by a small band of barbarians. Understand the how the Dynastic cycle means that China rarely learns from its mistakes, as it looks at the past and expects the future to be the same, so there is no point in changing anything.

18. The Emperors new clothes.
After the Communist revolution, a new Emperor emerged. Now called a Chairman and promising great things for the people of China, Mao Zedong created the next dynasty of China. He realised what had made China so great for so long and why and how it now had to rebuild itself. Why did Mao melt all the beds and saucepans in China? Why did he order all of the grass to be pulled up? Why did he order the death of every bird in China? What was the Chinese thinking behind these ideas? How was their society created and where is the Chinese Empire going now? Having been a TV Producer in Beijing, and now an International Lecturer specialising in Asia, MarC Stanton describes the transformation from an Agrarian peasant society to the present day and the transformation from a communist dictatorship to the fastest developing country on earth.

19. Oh Look At Those Funny Little People Over There!
Just how does television news look at foreign countries? Is British broadcasting still the even, balanced, presentation of facts or is our presentation distorted by inculcated ideas? Is there still a sense of Post-Colonialism? What difference does it make how a journalist describes a disaster? Surely it is still a disaster, the death toll cant get any worse, or can it? Do we have to have some else worse off than ourselves to make us feel good? In this lecture MarC Stanton, a university lecture, broadcaster, historian and researcher examines the current presentation of Developing Nations by British News broadcasting and deconstructs the images and language used to examine whether we truly are the balanced, nonbiased and truthful society that we all hope to be or do the news channels simply give us more of what we want to hear rather than the actual truth.
CRUISE HISTORY / EXPERIENCE
I have 10 years experience lecturing on cruise ships with Cunard, Saga, Celebrity and Reflection. I have Degrees in multiple disciplines including, Performing Arts, Chinese, Asian Pacific Business, Broadcasting, and Education. My PhD research was about Developing Nations. I was a child actor before becoming a TV director and Producer and then a University Academic. I am now the communication Director for a renewable energy company. I present lectures on a multitude of subjects ranging from Chinese History and Civilisation, Culture of the Mediterranean, History of Pirates, War and Investigative Journalism, Ancient Greeks and Romans.
2006. Cunard. Transpacific, Singapore- LA
2007 Saga. Indian Ocean, Delhi-Southampton
2008 Celebrity Mediterranean, Lisbon- Rome
2010 Cunard Baltic/Russia, Southampton-St Petersburg-Southampton
2011 Saga Carribean/Transatlantic. St Lucia-Southampton
2017 Reflection Eastern Mediterranean, Rome-Rome
2017 Reflection Western Mediterranean Rome -Rome
2018 Princess Western Mediterranean Southampton-Southampton.
2019 Celebrity Eastern Mediterranean Barcelona-Barcelona
2019 Princess Eastern Mediterranean, Southampton- Southampton
2019 Celebrity Western Mediteranean, Rome-Rome
RECENT PAST CRUISES COMPLETED
The following recent Cruise History has been recorded for this candidate.
SHIP REF CRUISE DESCRIPTION NIGHTS SAILING FROM DEPARTURE DATE
Celebrity Silhouette SI210918 UK Cruise From Southampton 9 Southampton Saturday, September 18, 2021