Friendship and Identity in Literature, Film, and Adolescence

A Letter from the Directors

Dear Colleague,

As a formative and abiding feature of adolescence, friendship is of special curricular interest in the high school English classroom, now more than ever. Since our first extraordinary Friendship and Identity in Literature, Film and Adolescence (FILFA)  Institute for Teachers in 2022, the growing academic/cultural focus on friendship as an area of fruitful exploration, study, and robust research has affirmed our commitment to this work.

Whether our friendships are high or low maintenance, frustrating or validating, reciprocal or unrequited, online or IRL–they are foundational. Knowing this, how can we use literature and inquiry to develop our students’ friendship literacy, sharpen their critical thinking and close reading skills, and support their social-emotional growth? Beginning in adolescence, our friends become our chosen family. As English teachers, we know the transformative power of literature and the capacity of storytelling to deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world.  When we’re trying to read people or stories, the ability to do so closely, fearlessly, and with nuance is fundamental to our sense of identity and connection. 

Our high school students function every day within a rich and sometimes dizzying  social microcosm. They navigate evolving friendship roles and identities, shifting priorities and allegiances, and fickle social rules- much of it outside of adults’ field of awareness–and  all further complicated by social media, where friendship dramas follow students home and play out around the clock.

During this two-week residential institute, we explore how friendship is understood, portrayed, and experienced from literary, social, cultural, theoretical, and pedagogical perspectives. Using contemporary and ancient scholarship on friendship as conceptual frameworks, we examine literary and cinematic portrayals of friendships. Together with our teacher-colleagues from around the country, and through core literary works and research, we study conditions and factors including gender, race, class, loyalty, reciprocity, loneliness, social media, and power dynamics. Guest scholars include the poet Robert Pinsky, and scholar -practitioners from the fields of education, literature, developmental psychology, and social psychology.

Teachers in the institute develop curricular plans to bring this robust and relevant exploration into their classrooms. These plans for full courses, or units within existing courses, will help students become more grounded and nuanced readers of friendship in literature and in their own lives. It’s our commitment that teachers leave this institute inspired and invigorated.

Sincerely, 

Dr. Karen Harris & Dr. Stephan Ellenwood

Dr. Karen Harris & Dr. Stephan Ellenwood