  Spectroscopic observations of a massive star formation in the ultraviolet and
their interpretation are reviewed. After a brief historical retrospective, two
well-studied resolved star clusters and the surrounding H II regions are
introduced: NGC 2070 in the Large Magellanic Cloud and NGC 604 in M33. These
regions serve as a training set for studies of more distant clusters, which can
no longer be resolved into individual stars. Observations of recently formed
star clusters and extended regions in star-forming galaxies in the nearby
universe beyond the Local Group are presented. Their interpretation relies on
spectral synthesis models. The successes and failures of such models are
discussed, and future directions are highlighted. I present a case study of the
extraordinary star cluster and giant H II region in the blue compact galaxy II
Zw 40. The review concludes with a preview of two upcoming Hubble Space
Telescope programs: ULLYSES, a survey of massive stars in nearby galaxies, and
CLASSY, a study of massive star clusters in star-forming galaxies.
