Because of their tremendous mass audience, Hollywood feature films help mold, shape, and direct popular beliefs and attitudes. They also serve as frozen pieces of time that preserve the concerns of the past. CELLULIOD IVY examines the portrayal of higher education in movies from 1960-1990, offering a fascinating view not only of how Americans gained their views of higher education and college life during this crucial period, but also of the fascinating tension between movie fantasy and the realities of life.

From The Graduate to Revenge of the Nerds, from The Paper Chase to Educating Rita, the book delves into how movies treat the classroom, the extra-curricular, rites of passage, professors, romance, sports, alcohol and drugs, and sometimes, education itself. It offers some startling conclusions on how movies often reflect America's latent anti-intellectualism and how students can enter college with media-fed expectations for an experience different from what they encounter.