Women in the Ivory Tower: Historical Memory and the Heroic Educator in Mona Lisa Smile (2003)

Edited book (chapter)

Stevenson, Ana. 2023. "Women in the Ivory Tower: Historical Memory and the Heroic Educator in Mona Lisa Smile (2003) ." Harmes, Marcus K. and Scully, Richard (ed.) Academia and Higher Learning in Popular Culture. Switzerland. Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 111–130
Chapter Title

Women in the Ivory Tower: Historical Memory and the Heroic Educator in Mona Lisa Smile (2003)

Book Chapter CategoryEdited book (chapter)
ERA Publisher ID2865
Book TitleAcademia and Higher Learning in Popular Culture
AuthorsStevenson, Ana
EditorsHarmes, Marcus K. and Scully, Richard
Page Range111–130
SeriesPalgrave Studies in Science and Popular Culture (PSSPC)
Chapter Number6
Number of Pages20
Year2023
PublisherPalgrave Macmillan
Place of PublicationSwitzerland
ISBN9783031323492
9783031323522
9783031323508
ISSN2731-4359
2731-4367
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-32350-8_6
Web Address (URL)https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-031-32350-8_6
Abstract

Mike Newell’s Mona Lisa Smile (2003) is a fictional historical film about an elite institution with particular significance for the history of women’s higher education. Starring Julia Roberts as a new art history instructor at Wellesley College, Massachusetts, the film follows her excitement about teaching young women and transforming their lives. This chapter examines the uses of history, historical memory, and pedagogy in Mona Lisa Smile to explore the educational myths that shape popular culture about higher education. Founded in 1870, Wellesley College is a single-sex institution that was established to educate women in the United States during the early decades of the women’s suffrage movement. The film’s historical memory provokes reflection upon women’s experiences, as both educators and students, after entering the ivory tower, especially during the film’s narrative in the 1950s, when it was released in the 2000s, and in the wake of #MeTooAcademia during the 2020s. This chapter argues that Mona Lisa Smile represents its main character in terms of what education researcher Marianne A. Larson describes as the “discourse of teacher centrality,” a trope that centres effective pedagogy around individual teachers rather than systemic issues in education. The film’s depiction of a good teacher and heroic educator has implications for higher education policy today.

KeywordsMona Lisa Smile, heroic educator, Julia Roberts, #MeTooAcademia, Wellesley College
Contains Sensitive ContentDoes not contain sensitive content
ANZSRC Field of Research 2020470214. Screen and media culture
430309. Gender history
430321. North American history
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Byline AffiliationsUniversity of Southern Queensland
University of the Free State, South Africa
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