David L. Kennedy
David Leslie Kennedy (born 25 April 1948) is an archaeologist and historian of the Roman Near East, with a focus on Aerial Archaeology, Roman landscape studies and the Roman military. He is Emeritus Professor and Senior Honorary Research Fellow in Roman Archaeology and History at the University of Western Australia. Biography. David Kennedy completed a Bachelor of Arts (BA (Hons)) in Ancient History and Archaeology at the University of Manchester in 1974, and was awarded a Doctor of Philosophy (D.Phil.) by the University of Oxford in 1980. He taught at the University of Sheffield (1976–1989) and Boston  University (1989–90) before taking up a position at the University of Western Australia in 1990, ultimately as a Winthrop Professor. He retired in October 2017, returned part-time on a research grant in 2018 and retired again in January 2020. He has been a Tweedie Exploration Fellow (1976–7), a Cotton Fellow (2004–5), a Member (1986-7 and 2004) and Visitor (2005, 2012 and 2017) at the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton, a Stanley J Seager Fellow at Princeton University (2005-6 and 2013) and Visiting Fellow at Brasenose College, University of Oxford (2013). In 1986–87 he held a Senior  Fulbright Travel Scholarship (UK to USA) a University of Western Australia 75th Anniversary Award in 1993. He is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London (1985– ) and of the Australian Academy of the Humanities (1995– ). In 2002 Kennedy was awarded a Centenary Medal by the Australian Federal Government "for services to ... archaeology". He is Chair of the Roman Archaeology Group (RAG), Perth, established in 2004 to promote interest in Roman Archaeology. Scholarship. David Kennedy's research focus is on the Roman Near East, with an emphasis on Jordan. His interests encapsulate Roman landscape studies, military studies, as well  as Roman infrastructure in the Near East. Kennedy established (1978) and directed (until 2018) the Aerial Photographic Archive for Archaeology in the Middle East (APAAME), a project designed to investigate, document and photograph archaeological sites throughout this region using remote sensing. This includes historical imagery and mapping, satellite imagery and aerial photography. The project is designed both to develop a methodology suited to the region and to illuminate settlement history in the Near East. Between 1997 and 2018 Kennedy conducted annual aerial reconnaissance over Jordan – the Aerial Archaeology in Jordan (AAJ) project, as part of the Aerial Archaeology in Jordan  project. the first – and until recently, only such programme in the Middle East. The project digitises and makes use of international collections, as well as increasing availability of satellite imagery through programs such as Google Earth and Bing in order to conduct wider surveys of the region. A brief video made by Google for its 'Search' series David Kennedy: Ancient Ruins has been published on YouTube which explains the development of this process. For two years from January 2018 to 2020 he was Director of the Aerial Archaeology in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (AlUla) (AAKSAU) and Aerial Archaeology in  Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (Khaybar) (AAKSAK) projects. His other projects have included the Jarash Hinterland Survey with Fiona Baker (2005–2011), a rescue project at the Classical city of Zeugma on the Euphrates (1993–2001) and currently the Aerial Photographic Archive for Archaeology in the Middle East. David Kennedy's work on aerial photography and satellite surveys has also resulted in part of his research being directed towards more ancient archaeological remains in the Near East, such as Desert Kites. Kennedy has been working on making research more accessible by publishing in iBook format, the first of which is the Kites in  Arabia ibook which was made available on iTunes. In February 2016 an article titled 93-Mile-Long Ancient Wall in Jordan Puzzles Archaeologists was published on LiveScience which showcases some of the recent activity in this research area undertaken by David Kennedy and his team. Published works. Select publications: