Simon Hobbs

Biography

I joined the University of Portsmouth as a Lecturer in Visual Culture in 2017 and was made Senior Lecturer in 2019. I am based within the Illustration BA, and run a research-led module entitled Issues of Representation for second year Art and Design students. I have previously taught Film Studies and Media Studies at Southampton Solent University, Bournemouth University and the International College Portsmouth, and I have an MA and PhD in Film Studies from the University of Portsmouth. My PhD thesis explored the paratextual presentation of extreme art cinema and discussed the manner in which home video objects manage filmic identities and prepare audiences for certain experiences. Since completing my PhD at the end of 2014, I have published a book on the subject called Cultivating Extreme Art Cinema: Text, Paratext and Home Video Culture (2018). More recently, I have been writing about true crime, and in particular, its ethical implications. In 2026, I co-edited a collection for Palgrave entitiled #True Crime: Digital Culture, Ethics and True Crime Auduiences. 

Research Interests

My research has explored the slippage between highbrow art cinema and lowbrow exploitation cinema, horror films, film fandom and the paratextuality of cinema. More recently, I have been researching the true crime genre and the way it represents survivors and victims. Within this broad field, I am particularly interested in the role social media plays in giving a voice to previously marginalised groups and the manner in which the genre can function as a form of ethical advocacy rather than exploitation.