Explore America's diverse folksong heritage and its impact on world culture. Learn about such regional, ethnic, and popular music forms as ballad, country, bluegrass, blues, rock, gospel, soul, rap, and zydeco within their specific cultural contexts and as commercial products commodified by a voracious music industry. While we will consider the European and African roots of many of these musical traditions, our focus will be on American contributions in the twentieth century. Reading and listening will focus on genres such as blues or bluegrass; particular artists such as Bessie Smith, Robert Johnson, Bill Monroe, and Louis Jordan; and major figures in the recording industry or fieldworker collectors such as Alan Lomax.