Jay Boda
Associate Director of Academic Affairs + Collections
The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art
Instructor
FSU Department of Art Education and Department of Art History
Contact
Dr. Jay Boda joined the faculty of the John & Mable Ringling Museum of Art as Associate Director of Academic Affairs and Collections in January 2022. Dr. Boda’s research interests include visitor-centered curation, museum education, transmedia storytelling, reflective judgement, and museum professional development. He supervises the Ringling’s academic programs and in-residence student interns enrolled in the Museums and Cultural Heritage Studies (MCHS) and Edu-curation (EC) programs while teaching two graduate seminars for the Department of Art History: The Museum Object (ARH 5838) and Public Programs (ARH 5806). Dr. Boda also oversees the Ringling’s Archives, Collections, Education, and Library departments.A two-time Samuel H. Kress Foundation Scholar recipient, Dr. Boda conducted a grant-funded research project for the International Council of Museums (ICOM) Committee for University Museums and Collections (UMAC). He studied education and career trends among global higher education professionals. His research will be published in the forthcoming edited book, Professionalising Museum Work in Higher Education: A Global Approach — editors, Dr. Marta Lorenço and Dr. Darko Babic. Dr. Boda has taught graduate courses for FSU’s Department of Art Education (Leading the Arts Organization, Museum Education, and Visitor Studies) and undergraduate courses for the University South Florida, St. Petersburg (Cultural Studies and Pop Art: Transmedia Storytelling, Film and Culture, and Introduction to English Literature).
Dr. Boda graduated with his Ph.D. from FSU’s Museum Education and Visitor-Centered Curation program in 2020. He studied readers theatre pedagogy as a method to assess and foster reflective judgement development in museum professionals dealing with contentious topics. He’s preparing a book for cultural organizations based on his dissertation. He’s presented research internationally including the 50th anniversary conference celebrating the School of Museum Studies at the University of Leicester, England. In addition to his museum and higher education background, Dr. Boda holds an MFA in screenwriting (2015) from FSU’s College of Motion Picture Arts and completed FSU’s Theatre Academy London writing program. The thesis film he wrote, Frankenstein’s Light, earned multiple awards during its festival season including Best Film from the Directors Guild of America in 2015.
In 2011, Dr. Boda began his museum career as a volunteer docent with the Salvador Dalí Museum in St. Petersburg after being inspired by an undergraduate art history elective. In 2018, he established the Director of Education and Interpretation role at the Imagine Museum in St. Petersburg. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, he worked with the U.S. Navy Seabee Museum and Archives as an Education and Outreach Specialist in Port Hueneme, California.
Before his museum career, Dr. Boda honorably retired from the U.S. Air Force as a Master Sergeant after a distinguished 20-year active duty career in the information technology field. He’s lived throughout Europe and the Middle East during several military assignments — including a combat tour in Iraq. As a first-generation college graduate, Dr. Boda earned FSU’s prestigious Emeritus Alumni Veteran Academic Excellence Award and credits the Post-9/11 G.I. Bill for the life-changing opportunities offered through higher education.