Joy Davis

Joy Davis is a museum and cultural heritage specialist who directed UVic’s Cultural Resource Management Program, working with Continuing Studies and Art History and Visual Studies, for over twenty-six years. In her final years at UVic, she served in a number of senior interim roles including Dean of Continuing Studies, Director of University Art Collections, and Director of Community Relations.

Joy is the recipient of the Canadian Museums Association’s Distinguished Service Award and continues serve as a cultural heritage consultant, as Associate Editor of Museum Management and Curatorship, as a member of the Advisory Group for the Coalition of Museums for Climate Justice, and as a trustee with the Greater Victoria Public Library.

Selected publications

Creative non-fiction

Complicated Simplicity: Island Life in the Pacific Northwest. Victoria: Heritage House Publishing, 2019.

Peer reviewed scholarly publications

“Putting Museum Studies to Work,” Museum Management and Curatorship, Vol. 26, No. 5, December 2011, pp. 459-479.

Putting learning to work: Knowledge transitions from continuing professional education to museum workplaces. PhD Dissertation, University of Victoria, 2011, 432 pp.

“Responding to Change: Shifting Priorities for Continuing Professional Education.” CURATOR, Vol. 48, No. 4, October 2005, pp. 427 – 439, reprinted in the Museums Alberta Museums Review, January 2007.

“Timeliness: A Discussion for Museums” with Elaine Heumann Gurian and Emlyn Koster, CURATOR, October 2003, pp. 353 – 361, reprinted in Civilising the Museum: the collected writings of Elaine Heumann Gurian, Routledge, 2006.

“Overcoming Barriers/ Strengthening Participation.” New Directions in Professional Museum Education and Training. Nancy Fuller, ed. Paris: Unesco/Icom Study Series 2002.

Reports, proceedings and articles in professional journals

Goldstream Water Supply System: Historical context, character defining features and interpretive potential. Victoria: Capital Regional District, January 2018.

Goldstream Powerhouse – Historical Context, Character-defining Features and Preliminary Assessment of Condition, Victoria: Capital Regional District, December 2016

“Current and Forthcoming Books on Museum Theory and Practice: A Burgeoning Literature.” Museum Management and Curatorship. Volume 31, Issue 1, 2016.

“Changing curricula: adapting education programs to a changing museum landscape.” With Phaedra Livingston. ICOM News, Volume 66, No. 3-4, December 2013, pp. 12-13.

“Uncharted Territory: A Review of the Literature on Professional Competencies for Socially Engaged Practice in Museums.” Commonwealth Museums Association Online International Journal, June 2008, 20 pp.

 “Museums Matter: A Reader.” Joy Davis, ed., University of Victoria, 2006, 200 pp.

“Stephen Weil: a Tribute.” Museum News, November/December 2005, p. 28.

Good Intentions/Complex Realities: Perspectives on Continuing Professional Education in Canada’s Museum Sector.  Victoria: Continuing Studies, University of Victoria, 2001.

Thriving in the Workplace: Conference Proceedings of the Canadian Association for University Continuing Education. Joy Davis and P. Faulds, eds. Victoria: University of Victoria and CAUCE, May 2001.

“Juggling Priorities: Factors that Influence Participation in Museum Continuing Education.” Proceedings of the International Committee on the Training of Personnel Symposium. Victoria: University of Victoria, May 2000.

“Making the Transition to the Virtual Classroom.” Spectra, Summer/Fall, 1999.

Introduction to Vocabularies: Enhancing Access to Cultural Heritage Information. Elisa Lanzi, Editor; Howard Besser, Joy Davis, Patricia Harping, Christine Sundt and Helen Tibbo, Contributing Editors; Los Angeles: Getty Information Institute, 1998.

Proceedings of the Symposium “Curatorship: Indigenous Perspectives in Post Colonial Societies.” Joy Davis and Camilla Turner, eds., Victoria: University of Victoria, 1996.