Such Anzac observances also reflected "a growing sense of spirit" in New Zealand, Mr Davis said.
He taught history and English at Kaikorai Valley High School and then Kaikorai Valley College for 34 years.
Later, in 2001, he began tutoring in the University of Otago history department.
Mr Davis (66), who also has a BA and MA from Otago University, has spent the last four years researching and writing a PhD exploring "Anzac Day meanings and memories".
His research, now completed and backed by a Claude McCarthy Fellowship and University of Otago Postgraduate Scholarship, focused on New Zealand, Australian and Turkish perspectives in a day of commemoration in the 20th century.
Today, he will be among more than 370 graduands in humanities and health sciences who will graduate in person at a graduation ceremony at the Dunedin Town Hall.
The growing popularity of the Anzac-related comm- emorations did not reflect praise for "valour rising" or any glorification of war, Mr Davis said in an interview.
Despite their apparent secularity, "many, many New Zealanders show a respect for things of the past" and that was reflected in their attendance at Anzac Day events, he said.
There was a growing "sense of spirit", of things non-corporeal involving the intellect, the mind and religion in New Zealand.
People were "sharing a common spiritual bond which has to do with commemoration", he said.
Respect for the dead was "a universal attribute that draws New Zealanders, Australians and Turks together".
"It's a recognition of the other and it's a recognition of the place of the dead who lie in their graves," he said.
Mr Davis said that during the fighting at Gallipoli a mutual respect had developed between Anzac and Turkish troops, including an appreciation that Turkish soldiers were strong and hard-fighting and would not run off.
When soldiers were captured they were also "treated quite humanely on both sides", he added.
There had at various times been some tensions between New Zealand and Australia over Anzac observances, including concerns by some New Zealanders as recently as the 1990s that Australia was taking too much ownership.
However, huge positive changes were apparent in recent years, with policy measures taken to ensure a much more inclusive approach, he said.
