As Shary completed his doctoral studies and began teaching at Clark University, he published articles and reviews such as "The Teen Film and its Methods of Study" (Journal of Popular Film and Television, vol. 25, #1; spring 1997, pp.
Shary had argued for the legitimacy of teen movies as a codified and potent American film genre throughout his early work, as evident in his anthologized essay "Teen Films: The Cinematic Image of Youth", first published in Film Genre Reader III (ed.