This book explores the multifaceted portrayal of academia in higher education in film and television series from around the world. It analyzes how universities, research, teaching staff, and students are represented across cultures and genres, including Hollywood films, Indian comedies, European arthouse films, and Chinese propaganda narratives.

Combining perspectives from cultural and media studies, linguistics, and higher education research, the volume investigates how academic communities and life are dramatized, distorted, idealized, or satirized on screen. It examines the intersection of these representations with social issues such as class, race, gender, and power hierarchies. Through intercultural comparison and critical analysis, the book explores which elements of academic life are highlighted or omitted and how these choices shape public perceptions of higher education.

Academia on Screen is essential reading for educators, researchers, and students in media and cultural studies interested in how cinematic narratives about academia reflect and shape our understanding of intellectual life in the 21st century.

Daniela Wawra is Professor of English Linguistics and Cultural Studies at the University of Passau in Germany. She is particularly interested in how identities, institutions, and ideologies are constructed and negotiated in public discourse. Her work frequently explores the intersections of language, power, and culture through an interdisciplinary lens, drawing on linguistics, media studies, and cultural analysis. 

Lucia Krämer is Professor of British Studies with a focus on Cultural and Media Studies at the University of Passau. Her main fields of research concern phenomena of productive reception. This includes a strong interest in historical and biographical fiction and period drama. She has published widely on the topic of adaptations (especially in relation to Indian cinema). She has also co-edited volumes about constructions of authenticity and Remakes and Remaking.