Lectures on geometric constructions of the irreducible representations of GL_n

We give an exposition of three geometric constructions of the irreducible representations of GL_n. In particular, we discuss Borel-Weil theory, the Ginzburg construction, and the geometric Satake construction. We also explain how to deduce the Ginzburg construction from the geometric Satake equivalence. These are lecture notes for a lecture series at the Summer School on geometric representation theory and extended affine Lie algebras held at University of Ottawa in June 2009.