Josh was conceived by an accountant and a wedding photographer in Decatur, Georgia in the early 1960s, but wasn't really ready to show up until 1973. He grew up in Centerville, Georgia and attended South Gwinnett High School. For his 16th birthday he was gifted a Volkswagon Beetle, which he used to drive around Atlanta listening to gothic and industrial music. As a result of mistakenly trying to convert the fuel injection system back to a carburetor system, the bug died, whereupon Josh acquired an orange Volkswagon bus with a sunroof that went from the driver's seat all the way back to the end of the bus. With a futon in the back, Josh did a lot of tailgating with friends at music concerts in that bus. Gosh, he loved that bus. Eventually it died too.

After graduating high school and reluctantly trading in the bus for a Toyota Supra, Josh moved to Washington D.C. where he studied philosophy and interpersonal communication at the George Washington University. His studies led him to an MA and Ph.D. in Rhetoric and Public Address at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. After six years in the Artic, Josh returned to the south for a job at the Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. Of course, Louisiana is not really the south--it's some strange culture entirely of its own. After three years in the bayou, Josh moved to Austin, Texas, where he currently teaches and researches rhetorical and cultural studies in the Department of Communication Studies.

Outside of teaching and researching popular culture, Josh enjoys listening to music of all kinds, dj-ing parties and special events (sometimes for hire), making mix-cds, watching film (especially horror and science fiction), cooking for friends, and gardening. He is an Eagle Scout and a Master Mason. He now drives a 2001 Volkswagon Golf.

Josh conducts research at the intersection of rhetorical and cultural studies, currently in pursuit of two, interrelated projects: (1) the integration of psychoanalysis and rhetorical/textual theory; and (2) a demonstration of the relevance and ubiquity of theological forms in public culture and daily life. His latest published research has focused on the role of theological form, from the apocalyptic, occult, and paranormal to the mundane religiosity of the "theory wars" in the humanities. He is currently writing a book on the ways in which the disembodied voice (e.g., black box recordings, answering machine messages, canned laughter on sitcoms, and so on) is the ghost of our "postmodern" times. His teaching interests include courses in rhetorical theory and criticism, rhetoric and religion, and rhetoric and popular music. He has published a book, Modern Occult Rhetoric: Mass Media and the Drama of Secrecy in the Twentieth Century (2005) with the University of Alabama Press, and has also published in a variety of journals, including The Journal of Communication and Religion, Popular Music and Society, the Quarterly Journal of Speech, Telos, Text and Performance Quarterly, Rhetoric Society Quarterly, and Visual Communication. For more details about my research and teaching (vita, syllabae, etc.), visit my academics page.

 

popular music of all sorts (yes, even country)
the cold side of the pillow
blasting music while driving fast with the windows and sunroof down in cool weather
uncoordinated dancing
cajun/creole, french, and mexican foods
ruta maya coffee
bulleit bourbon
turnip and collard greens
researching popular culture (I know, it's my job, but I kinda like it)
playing dj
watching live music
the whirling dervish in New Orleans
the Carousel and the Hole in the Wall in Austin