Media and film studies

American Teen Cinema: Coming of Age on Screen

Module code: P5034
Level 6
30 credits in spring semester
Teaching method: Film, Seminar
Assessment modes: Coursework

Adolescence is one of life’s universal experiences.

On this module, you’ll explore how coming of age is constructed on screen. You’ll study:

• how identity is portrayed – including gender, sexuality, race and class
• popular memory and nostalgia
• the exploitation of film and youth audiences
• how this relatively new film genre has developed and its scholarship.

Considering films such as Rebel Without a Cause (Ray, 1955) and Clueless (Heckerling, 1995), you’ll gain a critical overview of the genre. You’ll also examine evolving industry politics around teen audiences and how the genre took shape, building skills in independent research and analysis.

Module learning outcomes

• Demonstrate a coherent and specialist knowledge of the teen movie
• Demonstrate understanding of key debates in scholarship related to the topic
• Demonstrate an understanding of the industrial and socio-cultural contexts in which these films were produced.
• Provide sophisticated critical analysis of a range of teen films, and effectively argue a position.
• Demonstrate appropriate capacity for individual research and skills in written communications.