Popular music can be a rich and engaging teaching tool. Children often intuitively gain complex layers of experiential meaning more readily from music than other forms of plot-driven media where their narrow focus on literal interpretation and plot recitation can bring thoughtful conversation to a halt. However, integrating popular music in the…

In an effort to encourage appreciation of the rich folk heritage of the United States, the American Folklife Center of the Library of Congress presents this annual list of 30 recordings selected by a panel of distinguished experts from nearly two hundred titles submitted by producers, suggested by folklorists and ethnomusicologists, and proposed…

Recognizing the need to inform the public about newly issued folk recordings and audio tapes, the American Folklife Center of the Library of Congress initiates this annual list of selected titles, chosen by a panel of distinguished experts from a compilation of 1983 releases prepared by the Center staff. Although not a comprehensive list, it is…

For many students, films and television provide not only a chief source of entertainment, but their only glimpse of history outside of a formal classroom. This book aims to stimulate media awareness and critical viewing skills in students through lessons in critical analysis and historical interpretation of selected films. The films chosen for…