Film Studies
Have you ever thought about how films shape ideas about identity and culture? Film studies majors develop critical thinking, research, writing, and communication skills that are valuable in many careers.
This course explores film studies through the lens of teen cinema, from Rebel Without a Cause (1955) to Mean Girls (2004). Teen films are a popular genre that both idealize and critique adolescence, reflecting and shaping societal expectations about teen identities and roles. We will analyze these representations using a cultural studies approach, considering how they reflect U.S. cultural values and examining connections to race, class, gender, ability and sexuality. This course provides an introductory survey of teen films as an art form with the power to influence society and culture.
Learn more about an Interdisciplinary Studies major/minor and career path here.
Learning Outcomes in this course
Develop the skills to construct well-founded arguments about the meanings of a film's sounds and images, exploring how these elements work together to create and convey its intended message and themes.
Gain an introduction to the theories, methods, and key concerns of film and media studies, understanding the discipline’s approaches to analyzing and interpreting visual and auditory media.
Learn foundational film analysis techniques and apply these analytical tools to examine and interpret teen films, exploring their cultural significance, themes and narrative structures.
When
Session One
July 6 - July 18, 2025
Tuition
On-Campus Residential
$5,298 USD
Commuter
$2,998 USD
Proposed Activities
Screen a film at a local theater.
Meet with film festival representatives.
Plan a film festival.
Instructor
Emily Ryalls, Associate Professor at Cal Poly SLO
Emily Ryalls is an Associate Professor in the Interdisciplinary Studies Department. Dr. Ryalls is a recipient of the 2022-2023 Distinguished Teaching Award. Her research and teaching interests are in the areas of critical/cultural studies and feminist media studies. Dr. Ryalls's research has explored issues of age, race, class, gender, and sexuality in media sites such as Scream Queens, Gossip Girl, 13 Reasons Why and The Hunger Games. Her book, The Culture of Mean: Representing Victims and Bullies in Popular Culture, is the first sustained feminist critique of the contemporary bullying narrative in media.
