[Commlist] Call for Papers: True Crime and Ethics Symposium

Call for Papers
True Crime and Ethics Symposium
University of Portsmouth
29th May 2026

True crime is a mercurial genre. It shifts, adapts and transforms with 
and to the popular mediums, motivations and social concerns of the day. 
From high-budget, horror-infused dramatisations to self-shot Mukbangs, 
to unmissable Netflix series and 3-minute TikToks, the genre continues 
to fill production schedules, streaming platforms and social media 
feeds. Yet, as true crime’s influence has grown, so too have questions 
about its ethical implications. How should the makers of true crime 
frame these tragedies, and how should audiences respond to these images 
of death, abuse and grief? Who has the right to tell true crime stories, 
and is their commodification worth the very real trauma they can cause? 
How are social inequities related to gender, race and disability 
represented in true crime narratives?

As the genre continues to engage new audiences in innovative ways, its 
ethical questions become more complex. This one-day symposium, featuring 
a keynote lecture by Professor Tanya Horeck (author of /Justice on 
Demand: True Crime in the Digital Streaming Era/), will bring scholars 
together to consider these issues with the aim of developing an edited 
collection.

Proposals are invited for 20-minute papers on topics that explore true 
crime and ethics. Topics can include but are by no means limited to:

  *
    Gender, ethics and true crime
  *
    Race, ethics and true crime
  *
    Disability, ethics and true crime
  *
    Class, ethics and true crime
  *
    The body in true crime
  *
    Fictionalising true crime (from dramatisations such as Netflix’s
    /Monster/ series or /The Staircase/ miniseries to amateur-created
    fan fiction)
  *
    Ethics of internet sleuthing
  *
    True crime on different platforms (streaming, podcasts, and social
    media)
  *
    Ethics and true crime fandom/audiences
  *
    Survivor/victim-centred true crime
  *
    True crime and social movements (#MeToo, Black Lives Matter, Missing
    and Murdered Indigenous Women, etc.)
  *
    The ethics of true crime aesthetics (from text to paratexts)
  *
    True crime narrative tropes


Please send abstracts of 200-300 words along with a short biography by 
2nd March 2026 to Dr Simon Hobbs and/or Dr Megan Hoffman at the 
University of Portsmouth.

(_simon.hobbs2 /at/ port.ac.uk) <mailto:(simon.hobbs2 /at/ port.ac.uk)>_
(_megan.hoffman /at/ port.ac.uk) <mailto:(megan.hoffman /at/ port.ac.uk)>_

Applicants will be informed on or before 20th March 2026.

This symposium is open to all academics and researchers who are 
interested in true crime and will be in person only. Registration will 
be free, and lunch will be provided. A number of £50 travel bursaries 
will be available for precariously employed academics/independent 
scholars/PhD students. Please indicate in your email if you would like 
to be considered for one of these travel bursaries.

If you have any questions, please contact Dr Simon Hobbs and/or Dr Megan 
Hoffman on the above emails.


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