Academic life is a topic well worth exploring in novels and film, as it lends itself to a never-ending analysis of social dynamics, obsession, talent, infrastructure, educational trends, and even satire. These 10 movies address all of those themes by celebrating academic life as its own genre and indulging all types of students and teachers.

#1 School Ties: School Ties is a classic coming-of-age and academic film from 1992 starring Brendan Fraser, Chris O’Donnell, Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, all before they were A-list celebrities. In the movie, a Jewish football star named David Greene gets a scholarship to a preppy boarding school in Massachusetts, where he confronts bigotry at many different levels. Other themes from the film include cheating and loyalty, the notion of honor and legacy, acceptance and integrity, and scenes of the beautiful prep school, school dances and football games will make even proud public school graduates wonder what it’s like to experience life on the inside.....