We’re thrilled to welcome Dr. Timothy Davis as the new Project Director for the Cambodian Oral History Project. He succeeds Dr. Dana Bourgerie, the project’s founder, who will continue to offer support and insight in his new role as Project Director Emeritus given his recent retirement. With Dr. Davis now heading the project, we look forward to the continued growth and impact of the project under his leadership!
Dr. Davis comes to us with extensive experience in Asian studies, language instruction, and cultural history. He currently serves as the Asian Studies Librarian at BYU’s Harold B. Lee Library, where he manages the Chinese, Japanese, and Korean collections, smaller collections focusing on South, Southeast, and Central Asia, and all English language materials related to Asia. He holds a PhD in East Asian Languages and Cultures from Columbia University and has taught Chinese language, literature, and history classes at BYU since 2007. Among his many research interests, he places particular focus on commemorative writing and the construction of family identity in medieval China.
Dr. Davis began his journey of exploring Chinese language and culture after serving a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Taiwan in 1990. Since then, his career has blended scholarship, teaching, and librarianship—making him exceptionally well-suited to lead the Cambodian Oral History Project into its next chapter.