American Teen Cinema: Coming of Age on Screen (P5034)

30 credits, Level 6

Spring teaching

Adolescence is one of life’s universal experiences. On this module, you’ll consider how coming of age is constructed on screen.

Topics include:

  • constructions of identity, including gender, sexuality, race and class
  • popular memory and nostalgia
  • the exploitation of film and youth audiences
  • the construction of a relatively new film genre 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 cover the changing industry politics around teen audience and the formation of the genre.

Through seminars and screenings, you’ll build skills in independent research and analysis.

Teaching

58%: Lecture (Film)
42%: Seminar

Assessment

100%: Coursework (Essay, Presentation)

Contact hours and workload

This module is approximately 300 hours of work. This breaks down into about 55 hours of contact time and about 245 hours of independent study. The University may make minor variations to the contact hours for operational reasons, including timetabling requirements.

We regularly review our modules to incorporate student feedback, staff expertise, as well as the latest research and teaching methodology. We鈥檙e planning to run these modules in the academic year 2025/26. However, there may be changes to these modules in response to feedback, staff availability, student demand or updates to our curriculum.

We鈥檒l make sure to let you know of any material changes to modules at the earliest opportunity.

Courses

This module is offered on the following courses: