I was a Teenage Teenager

Alternately feared and revered by adult society in the 1940s and 50s, American teens became an essential target market of both the fashion and entertainment industries, leading to such film classics as “Blackboard Jungle” and “I Was a Teenage Werewolf.” Ever since, it has largely been American and British youth that have defined which aspects of western pop culture become mainstream and which sink into the backwaters of obscurity. In this course we will examine the historical precedents of what we now call “adolescence” and explore how in the 20th century, industrial, economic, and structural factors conspired to create something altogether new in the experience of the interface between childhood and adulthood: the American teen. Additionally, we will consider the effects of the burgeoning Internet, globalization, and the 9/11 bombings on today’s teens and their sense of self in their world. In an attempt to understand this unique social invention called "the teenager," we will critically analyze a variety of texts, including novels, yearbooks, comic books, films, sitcoms, “educational shorts” aimed at teens, and fads and fashions.