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Lecturer in American Studies, University of Hull

Simon Willmetts is a lecturer in American Studies at the University of Hull. His research falls broadly within the fields of film history, cultural theory and US foreign policy. Before joining Hull he worked on the AHRC project at Warwick University entitled The Landscapes of Secrecy: The CIA and the Contested Record of US Foreign Policy. The project explored the formation and development of public perceptions of the CIA in various cultural mediums. Simon’s work for the project examined filmic representations of the Agency.

He has published articles on spy cinema and the public perceptions of the Central Intelligence Agency in the Journal of American Studies, the Journal of British Cinema and Television and the International Journal of Intelligence and Counterintelligence. His forthcoming book with Edinburgh University Press is a history of the OSS and CIA in Hollywood cinema.

He has recently begun work as a Co-Investigator on an ESRC project examining the ethics and rights of cybersecurity. Simon will be exploring how major contemporary debates regarding digital governance have been shaped by cultural texts, in particular feature films, documentaries and novels.

Experience

  • –present
    Lecturer in American Studies (focus = surveillance, intelligence and the internet in fiction)., University of Hull

Education

  • 2012 
    University of Warwick, PhD