In this course participants will study a variety of rural, urban music and rhythms of Latin America that contain the integration of all the cultures and their influences of this region. We will review the music-making process as a cultural and social product, as an activity that people enjoy, listen to, censor, buy, sell and think about. This course will focus on the social contexts of music-making as a reflection of the concerns, dreams, criticisms, and liberation of the community. We will study and analyze a diverse range of performances, musical traditions, lyrics, musical integration and mixtures. We will also see how these rhythms have influenced stigmatically the US music production and culture, and its impact around the world as some sort of universal language. This course is conducted in Spanish by a native speaker, Dr. Wanda Ocasio-Rivera.