Pippa Maslin

My research concerns British coming-of-age films - films which are set in Britain and revolve around either an adolescent protagonist or a pair/group of adolescent protagonists.

Under consideration are films made from 1979 onwards:

1. Quadrophenia (1979)
2. Scum (1979)
3. That Sinking Feeling (1979)
4. Babylon (1980)
5. Burning an Illusion (1981)
6. Desi Punk Girl (1981)
7. Gregory's Girl (1981)
8. Experience Preferred ... But Not Essential (1982)
9. P'tang Yang Kipperbang (1982)
10. Made in Britain (1983)
11. Meantime (1983)
12. R.H.I.N.O. (1983)
13. Secrets (1983)
14. Those Glory Glory Days (1983)
15. Another Country (1984)
16. Secret Places (1984)
17. A Room with a View (1985)
18. Letter to Brezhnev (1985)
19. My Beautiful Laundrette (1985)
20. The Innocent (1985)
21. Absolute Beginners (1986)
22. Maurice (1987)
23. Rita, Sue and Bob Too (1987)
24. Two of Us (1987)
25. Wish You Were Here (1987)
26. Distant Voices, Still Lives (1988)
27. The Fruit Machine (1988)
28. Conquest of the South Pole (1989)
29. The Rachel Papers (1989)
30. Buddy's Song (1991)
31. Un Nos Ola Leuad/One Full Moon (1991)
32. Young Soul Rebels (1991)
33. The Long Day Closes (1992)
34. Wild West (1992)
35. The Cement Garden (1993)
36. Backbeat (1994)
37. Shopping (1994)
38. An Awfully Big Adventure (1995)
39. Sense and Sensibility (1995)
40. The Young Poisoner's Handbook (1995)
41. Beautiful Thing (1996)
42. Emma (1996)
43. Small Faces (1996)
44. Stella Does Tricks (1996)
45. Trainspotting (1996)
46. House of America (1997)
47. The Girl with Brains in Her Feet (1997)
48. The Slab Boys (1997)
49. Twenty Four Seven (1997)
50. Twin Town (1997)
51. Under the Skin (1997)
52. Babymother (1998)
53. Cider with Rosie (1998)
54. Elizabeth (1998)
55. The Land Girls (1998)
56. Velvet Goldmine (1998)
57. A Room for Romeo Brass (1999)
58. East is East (1999)
59. Get Real (1999)
60. Human Traffic (1999)
61. Rage (1999)
62. Ratcatcher (1999)
63. The Trench (1999)
64. The War Zone (1999)
65. Virtual Sexuality (1999)
66. Billy Elliot (2000)
67. Borstal Boy (2000)
68. Care (2000)
69. Kevin and Perry Go Large (2000)
70. New Year's Day (2000)
71. Purely Belter (2000)
72. Storm Damage (2000)
73. There's Only One Jimmy Grimble (2000)
74. The Testimony of Taliesin Jones (2000)
75. Gabriel and Me (2001)
76. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001)
77. Me Without You (2001)
78. My Brother Tom (2001)
79. The Hole (2001)
80. When I was Twelve (2001)
81. About a Boy (2002)
82. A.K.A. (2002)
83. Anita and Me (2002)
84. Bend It Like Beckham (2002)
85. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002)
86. Morvern Callar (2002)
87. Nicholas Nickleby (2002)
88. Pure (2002)
89. Sweet Sixteen (2002)
90. I Capture the Castle (2003)
91. Wondrous Oblivion (2003)
92. A Way of Life (2004)
93. Bullet Boy (2004)
94. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)
95. My Summer of Love (2004)
96. Top Spot (2004)
97. Yasmin (2004)
98. Green Street (2005)
99. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005)
100. Pride and Prejudice (2005)
101. Tom Brown's Schooldays (2005)
102. Bradford Riots (2006)
103. Driving Lessons (2006)
104. Kidulthood (2006)
105. London to Brighton (2006)
106. Sixty Six (2006)
107. Starter for Ten (2006)
108. The Great Ecstasy of Robert Carmichael (2006)
109. The History Boys (2006)
110. This is England (2006)
111. Atonement (2007)
112. Becoming Jane (2007)
113. Brick Lane (2007)
114. Control (2007)
115. Hallam Foe (2007)
116. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007)
117. Popcorn (2007)
118. Son of Rambow (2007)
119. St Trinian's (2007)
120. Summer Scars (2007)
121. Adulthood (2008)
122. Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging (2008)
123. Better Things (2008)
124. Cass (2008)
125. How To Be (2008)
126. Is Anybody There? (2008)
127. Somers Town (2008)
128. Wild Child (2008)
129. The Disappeared (2008)
130. An Education (2009)
131. Awaydays (2009)
132. Cherrybomb (2009)
133. Fish Tank (2009)
134. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009)
135. Nowhere Boy (2009)
136. Shank (2009)
137. St Trinian's 2 (2009)
138. The Firm (2009)
139. The Scouting Book for Boys (2009)
140. The Unloved (2009)
141. Tormented (2009)
142. Wasted (2009)
143. Cemetery Junction (2010)
144. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 1 (2010)
145. Neds (2010)
146. Shank (2010)
147. Soulboy (2010)
148. Submarine (2010)
149. Toast (2010)
150. West is West (2010)
151. 4.3.2.1. (2010)
152. Albatross (2011)
153. Anuvahood (2011)
154. Attack the Block (2011)
155. Chalet Girl (2011)
156. Demons Never Die (2011)
157. Everywhere and Nowhere (2011)
158. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2 (2011)
159. Sket (2011)
160. The Inbetweeners Movie (2011)
161. Wuthering Heights (2011)
162. Broken (2012)
163. Ginger and Rosa (2012)
164. Hunky Dory (2012)
165. I Am Nasrine (2012)
166. Life Just Is (2012)
167. Love Bite (2012)
168. My Brother the Devil (2012)
169. Now Is Good (2012)
170. Offender (2012)
171. Gone Too Far! (2013)
172. Great Expectations (2013)
173. How I Live Now (2013)
174. Sixteen (2013)
175. Starred Up (2013)
176. The Selfish Giant (2013)
177. Belle (2014)
178. Bypass (2014)
179. God Help the Girl (2014)
180. Pride (2014)
181. Queen and Country (2014)
182. Testament of Youth (2014)
183. The Goob (2014)
184. The Inbetweeners 2 (2014)
185. The Riot Club (2014)
186. Cider with Rosie (2015)
187. Just Jim (2015)
188. Kingsman: The Secret Service (2015)
189. The Falling (2015)
190. The Pass (2016)

I am particularly interested in:

1. the relationship between coming-of-age films and their literary precursor, the Bildungsroman;
2. aesthetic strategies employed in coming-of-age films to depict growth;
3. how the figure of the adolescent is often used to portray social/cultural/generational/historical/ideological conflict;
4. the function of adult figures in coming-of-age films;
5. the relationship between the individual and society in coming-of-age films;
6. 'retro' coming-of-age films;
7. autobiographical/semi-autobiographical coming-of-age films;
8. the appearance of non-professional actresses and actors in a number of coming-of-age films;
9. how coming-of-age films reflect, interpret, explain, and shape social, cultural, and economic realities; 
10. how coming-of-age films provide ample opportunities for audience identification;
11. and the relationship between the 'coming-of-age' label, the 'youth film' label, the 'teen film' label, and the 'teenpic' label.

I would welcome the opportunity to talk to anyone who has a strong interest in or strong feelings about any of the films or issues listed.

For my Ph.D., I was in receipt of a Royal Holloway Crosslands Scholarship. The result of my viva on 13th October 2017 was a pass subject to minor amendments to be completed within three months. On 27th January 2018, I was informed that the minor amendments had been approved.

Papers delivered:

• 'Introduction to Contemporary British Coming-of-Age Films' - Royal Holloway Media Arts Postgraduate Conference, 13th-14th June 2013
• 'Selfish Ideology in The Selfish Giant (2013)' - Royal Holloway Media Arts Postgraduate Conference, 12th June 2014
• 'Brothers in Bullet Boy (2004) and My Brother the Devil (2012)' - Royal Holloway Media Arts Postgraduate Conference, 12th-13th June 2015
• 'Homies and Homosexuality in My Brother the Devil (2012)' - 'Childhood and Nation in World Cinema: Borders and Encounters Since 1980', a postgraduate symposium held at Corpus Christi College, University of Cambridge, 2nd-3rd November 2015
• 'Reflections of a Professional Teacher - from Secondary Schools to the University' - Third Annual John Beacham Teaching Conference, Goldsmiths, University of London, 15th September 2016

1. 1994-1997, BA Honours in Philosophy and Literature, University of Warwick, 2:1
2. 1997-1998, PGCE in Secondary School English, Westminster College, Oxford
3. 2011-2012, MA in Film and Television Studies, University of Bristol, Distinction

I spent thirteen years teaching English to 11-18 year olds in Surrey comprehensives and, along the way, I was also:

1. a Deputy Head of House (I assisted a Head of House in providing pastoral care for about 350 students);
2. Lead Professional in Teaching and Learning (I worked with colleagues to improve the quality of teaching and learning);
3. an Equal Opportunities Coordinator (my central aim was to tackle discriminatory behaviour within the student body)*;
4. a Mentoring Coordinator (I set up a mentoring scheme where staff mentored underachieving students);
5. a One-to-One Tuition Coordinator (I rolled out one-to-one tuition in English and Maths for underachieving students);
6. a Gifted and Talented Coordinator (although I never felt comfortable with the term 'gifted and talented', I helped colleagues to cater for the most able students).

 * Charter Mark, now known as Customer Service Excellence, deemed my work 'Best Practice'.

November 2013. Royal Holloway. MA1051 Film and Television Histories (first-year students). One-hour lecture and one-hour seminar on the Hollywood studio system from 1930-1947, with a particular emphasis on censorship, Mae West and She Done Him Wrong (1933).

January-March 2014. Royal Holloway. MA3071 Contemporary British Cinema (third-year students). Three 2-hour seminars: filming London/the coming-of-age film - Kidulthood (2006); representations of the North/the coming-of-age film - Billy Elliot (2000); and poetic realism/the coming-of-age film - My Summer of Love (2004).

January-May 2014. Royal Holloway. MA1052 Critical Theory and Textual Analysis (first-year students). I had two seminar groups whom I saw once a week during the Spring term, and I also marked their essays and exam scripts.

September-December 2014. Royal Holloway. MA3071 Contemporary British Cinema (third-year students). Ten 2-hour seminars: British Cinema as National Cinema(s); the heritage film - A Room with a View (1985); the postmodern heritage film? - Elizabeth (1998); filming London [1] - Notting Hill (1999); filming London [2] - Kidulthood (2006); filming the North of England - Billy Elliot (2000); the coming-of-age film [1] - My Summer of Love (2004); the coming-of-age film [2] - Fish Tank (2009); British-Asian cinema - Bend it Like Beckham (2002); and transnational British cinema - Slumdog Millionaire (2008).

December 2014. Royal Holloway. MA1054 Introduction to Narrative (first-year students). Two-hour lecture/seminar on nations and narration, focusing on Fires Were Started - (1943).

September-December 2015. Royal Holloway. MA3071 Contemporary British Cinema (third-year students). Ten 3-hour seminars: traditions of British cinema; the heritage film - A Room with a View (1985); the postmodern heritage film? - Elizabeth (1998); realism/social realism - Riff-Raff (1991); politics, history and realism - The Wind That Shakes the Barley (2006); art cinema - The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover (1989); social art cinema - Distant Voices, Still Lives (1988); poetic realism/new realism - My Summer of Love (2009); the gangster film - Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998); and the horror film - Eden Lake (2008).

January-March 2018. Royal Holloway. MA3171 Contemporary British Cinema: Place and Identity (third-year students). Eleven three-hour seminars: British Cinema as national cinema; Hollywood UK - Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001); Filming London [1] - Notting Hill (1999); Filming London [2] - Kidulthood (2006); British Asian Cinema - My Beautiful Laundrette (1985); The Female Coming-of-Age Film - Fish Tank (2009); Filming the North of England - Billy Elliot (2000); The Trainspotting Effect - Film and Scotland - Trainspotting (1996); Cinema and Wales - Twin Town (1997); Cinema and Northern Ireland - Bloody Sunday (2002); and Transnational Cinema - Slumdog Millionaire (2008).

May 2016. Council on International Educational Exchange (CIEE Global Institute London). Two-hour guest lecture/seminar on contemporary British coming-of-age films, delivered to third-year students studying at various American universities.

August 2017. Council on International Educational Exchange (CIEE Global Institute London). Three-hour guest lecture/seminar on issues of class, gender, 'race' and ethnicity, and sexual orientation in contemporary British coming-of-age films, delivered to third-year students studying at various American universities.

November 2017. Council on International Educational Exchange (CIEE Global Institute London). Three-hour guest lecture/seminar on representations of sexuality in contemporary British coming-of-age films, delivered to third-year students studying at various American universities.