I am a performance artist<->scholar<->practitioner<->coach who engages in critical ethnographic methods, spoken-word roots, and remixed performance techniques.
With these tools, I culturally, aesthetically, and collaboratively excavate how marginalized publics foster community and reach dominant publics through live, digital, and ritual performances.
Recent News:
-International Tour of Burnt City starts in Santa Rosa
-Recipient of 2024 CSCA Outstanding Article in Performance Studies Award
-Interview in Al Jazeera English about the Iron Sheik’s passing (06.07.2023).
Recognition and Honors
CSCA Outstanding Article in Performance Studies
Performance Studies & Autoethnography Division
2024
NCFA New Coach of the Year Award
Northern California Forensics Association
2023
NCA Best Journal Article Award--Ethnography
National Communication Association Ethnography Division
IAANI Outstanding Visual Project Award
International Association of Autoethnography and Narrative Inquiry
CSCA Outstanding Article in Autoethnography
Performance Studies & Autoethnography Division
2022
AAA New Directions Award: Individual
American Anthropological Association General Anthropology Division
Marion Kleinau National Scripting Award
SIU Carbondale Department of Communication Studies
ICA Outstanding New Teacher Award
Iowa Communication Association
LSC Adjunct Faculty Excellence Award
Lone Star College—University Park
2021
2020 NCA Best Dissertation Award--Ethnography
National Communication Association Ethnography Division
2018 Marie J. Robinson Outstanding Graduate Student in Performance Studies, NCA Performance Studies Division
2016 AFA Outstanding New Forensics Coach Award
American Forensics Association
2013 ICA Outstanding Adjunct Teacher Award
Iowa Communication Association
Performances & Tours
Since 2009, Josh Hamzehee has toured full-length performance projects paired with innovative workshops and experiences, as well as solo events, in 25 states. Including:
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 of Long Beach’s LGBTQ…H? Toastmasters
The Worst of the Worst: Performances of Guantanamo Bay
Publications & Scholarship
Josh Hamzehee has published 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
Director of Santa Rosa Junior College’s Forensics Speech, Debate, and Performance Team, and a former Co-Director of University of Northern Iowa's top-10 in the nation forensics speech program, Josh Hamzehee has spent 15 years focusing on quality, creativity, advocacy, and personal connection to make sure researching, writing, and performance skills last well beyond the stage, the office, or the classroom. Hamzehee has coached nationally-ranked teams and national finalists all over the U.S., specializing in humor, drama, creativity, and connection.
Hamzehee has taught over 150 Performance and Communication Studies courses, and guided over 3,000 students at public universities, community colleges, and through forensics by embracing critical methods of classroom and performance engagement within the safety of a creative, supportive, and energized environment.