Josh Hamzehee is a performance artist, scholar, and coach who engages in critical ethnographic methods and remixed performance techniques.
With these tools, Josh excavates how we foster community and critique power dynamics through live, digital, and ritual performances.
Updates
-New Book: “Baton Rouge SLAM!” published by Innovative Ink, Fall 2026
-New Book: “Forensics & Public Performance” published by Kendall Hunt, Fall 2026
-New show: “Dead Mom Jokes” debuts Summer 2026!
-Touring show: “Burnt City” is on the road in 2026-27!
-Peer-Review Article: “Final Rounds to Final Defenses” will be published in 2026
-Award: HFO’s Randy Cox Forensics Visionary Award, 2026
Publicity
-Interview: Al Jazeera English chats with Hamzehee about the Iron Sheik
-Webinar Host: College & Career Readiness with edWeb
-Interview: Oak Leaf News interviews Hamzehee about Forensics Team
Recognition and Honors
Randy Cox Forensics Visionary Award
HFO: Bradley University and University of Texas, Austin
2026
Unsung Hero Faculty Recognition Award
SRJC Academic Senate
Outstanding Article in Performance Studies
CSCA Performance Studies & Autoethnography Division
Club Advisor of the Year
SRJC Inter-Club Council
2025 & 2024
New Coach of the Year Award
Northern California Forensics Association
Best Journal Article Award--Ethnography
NCA Ethnography Division
Outstanding Visual Project Award
International Association of Autoethnography and Narrative Inquiry
CSCA Outstanding Article in Autoethnography
CSCA Performance Studies & Autoethnography Division
2023 & 2022
New Directions Award: Individual
American Anthropological Association General Anthropology Division
Marion Kleinau National Scripting Award
SIU Carbondale Department of Communication Studies
Outstanding New Teacher Award
Iowa Communication Association
Adjunct Faculty Excellence Award
Lone Star College—University Park
Best Dissertation Award--Ethnography
NCA Ethnography Division
2021 & 2020
Marie J. Robinson Outstanding Graduate Student in Performance Studies
NCA Performance Studies Division, 2018
Outstanding New Forensics Coach Award
American Forensics Association, 2016
Outstanding Adjunct Teacher Award
Iowa Communication Association, 2013
Performances & Tours
For two decades, Josh has toured solo and ensemble performance projects, paired with innovative workshops and experiences, in 30 states. Including:
COMING SOON: Dead Mom Jokes
Burnt City: A Dystopian Bilingual One-Persian Show
Baton Rouge SLAM!: An Obituary for Summer 2016
The Deported: A Reality Show!
CONVICT: The Age of Incarceration
Renowned: Osama Lives On!
Speak Out!: Performance Ethnography
The Worst of the Worst: Performances of Guantanamo Bay
Publications & Scholarship
Josh has published award-winning academic and creative scholarship in the areas of performance studies, slam poetry, and forensics speech, in refereed journals like Text & Performance Quarterly, Liminalities: A Journal of Performance Studies, Pedagogy and Theatre of the Oppressed Journal, Florida Communication Journal, and the Professional Wrestling Studies Journal. Residencies, workshops, and speaking engagements offered.
Pedagogy & Coaching
Josh has spent 20 years focusing on quality, creativity, advocacy, and personal connection to make sure researching, writing, and performance skills last beyond the stage, office, and classroom.
Josh has directed national championship forensics teams and speakers, taught over 175 Performance and Communication Studies courses, and guided over 3,000 students at public universities, community colleges, and in forensics by embracing critical methods of performance engagement within the safety of a creative, supportive, and energized environment.