Popular music documentary films shape how audiences come to know, value, hear, consume, and identify with popular music and those who create it. This course surveys documentaries since the 1960s to analyze representations of multiple genres as musical and social practices, including folk, (neo-)soul, punk, heavy metal, hip-hop, grunge, riot grrrl, and K-pop. Central to our inquiry will be the ways documentaries (de)construct star images, especially in relation to race, gender, and class; negotiate tensions between mass culture and individual “authenticity;” historically and geographically contextualize subcultural scenes; and assemble sounds and images of fans, live musical performances, and other archival materials. The coursework includes ten required films to watch outside of classtime, and students will create either a documentary short or an interview for their final project.