Bonjour! Hello! My name is Josh Barbre, but you can call me Josh. I am 32 years old and hail from St. Louis, Missouri. Growing up in St. Louis, I loved going to St. Louis Blues hockey games, visiting Tower Grove Park, and going to concerts at The Pageant! In college, I left St. Louis to study music history and music education at Mizzou. After that, I went to Tucson, Arizona to earn my master's degree in ethnomusicology at the University of Arizona.
My master's thesis involved listening to the stories of local hip hop deejays about how hip hop grew within the city of Tucson. Eager to apply all my knowledge, I became a music teacher in St. Louis Public Schools where we sang, played instruments, and learned about a lot of different music, including hip hop! After I was a teacher, I wanted to go back to school for my Ph.D. in Arizona and found out about how hip hop is going to be a part of the Summer 2024 Olympic games. I applied for and was fortunate to receive a Fulbright Scholarship to interview and observe the changing hip hop community in Paris, France.
Currently, I am living in Paris, France where I am working with hip hop artists and researching the relationship between hip hop and the Olympics. I am excited to share my adventures with you all and cannot wait to hear about your journeys through the school year!
Want to learn how you could be a Fulbright Scholar like me? The Fulbright Program is the United States government's flagship international exchange program. Fulbrighters foster mutual understanding between the United States and partner nations, share knowledge across communities, and improve lives around the world. Learn more by clicking here!
