Celebrating Dr. Jim Davis
Dr. Jim Davis is celebrating his 30th year teaching at BUA. Current parents, alumni, parents of alumni, and current and former faculty and staff are invited to honor this significant milestone:
Reception for Dr. Jim Davis
Saturday, May 2, 2026 | 4:00-6:30 p.m.
BU Castle, 225 Bay State Road, Boston
Dr. Davis joined BUA in 1996, when the school was still in its infancy. Over the intervening years, Dr. Davis helped shape BUA into the vibrant and thriving school it is today through his incisive intellect, encyclopedic knowledge, student-centered pedagogy, and thoughtful presence as a teacher, advisor, colleague, mentor, and friend. In addition to teaching “Makings of the Modern World” (the 10th-grade history course formerly titled “The Development of Modern Europe”), in his 30 years at BUA Dr. Davis also has taught philosophy seminars ranging from “Neoliberalism and Its Discontents” to “Existentialism in Film and Fiction” and “Philosophical Fantasy: Middle Earth and the Dilemmas of Modernity.” He has served as an advisor to Model UN, Philosophy Club, Ethics Bowl, and Nerdly Games Club, and has drawn on his own experience and training as a practitioner of Buddhist mindfulness to spearhead BUA’s secular mindfulness program as part of 9th- and 10th-grade physical education. Recently, Dr. Davis has driven reform of BUA’s history curriculum, widening the aperture of the course to include more recent history and global traditions while maintaining a commitment to those core elements that have defined the program since 1993: deep engagement with challenging and foundational primary texts; rigorous exploration of intellectual history; an insistence on clear, sound analytical writing; and lively and respectful exchanges of ideas around the seminar table.
When BUA alumni are asked about teachers who made an impact on their lives, Dr. Davis’s name comes up frequently. Former students recall his passion for and deep knowledge of his subject; his principled positions on politics and current events; his animated philosophical discourses; his championing of equity; his respect for student voice; and, perhaps above all, his genuine warmth and empathy. Dr. Davis stays in touch with many of his students and advisees long after they’ve graduated, and has inspired lifelong interest – and even careers – in history, philosophy, and politics.
BUA would not be the school it is without this extraordinarily gifted, passionate, and dedicated teacher and mentor. We are eager to celebrate Dr. Davis’s milestone anniversary with a reception on May 2.
This event has reached capacity. If you would like to be added to the waitlist, please email Elisha Meyer (emmeyer@bu.edu). If you have RSVP’d for the reception and are no longer able to make it, please reach out to let us know.
