Rate My Professor David Kennedy

David Kennedy is an Emeritus Professor and Senior Honorary Research Fellow in Roman Archaeology and History at the University of Western Australia, affiliated with the School of Humanities in Classics and Ancient History. He earned his BA from the University of Manchester and DPhil from the University of Oxford. Kennedy is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries (FSA), Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities (FAHA), and Member of the Order of Australia (AM). He has also been recognized as a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society.

A pioneering archaeologist specializing in the Roman Near East, Kennedy's research centers on aerial archaeology, ancient landscape studies, and cultural heritage. In 1978, he founded the Aerial Photographic Archive for Archaeology in the Middle East (APAAME), directing it until 2018 and amassing a vast collection of images documenting archaeological sites across the region. From 1997 to 2018, he led annual aerial reconnaissance over Jordan, identifying thousands of sites including forts, towers, and desert kites using aircraft photography and Google Earth. He directed the Aerial Archaeology projects in Saudi Arabia's AlUla (AAKSAU) and Khaybar (AAKSAK) regions from 2018 to 2020. Other major fieldwork includes leading the Jarash Hinterland Survey (2005-2011) and participating in rescue excavations at Zeugma on the Euphrates (1993-2001). Kennedy taught undergraduate and postgraduate courses in Roman archaeology and history at UWA, supervising numerous PhD students whose theses are housed in the university repository. His extensive publications include 'Aerial Archaeology in Jordan - 2010', 'Ancient Jordan from the Air' (2004, with Robert Bewley), 'The Roman Army in Jordan' (2004), and the iBook 'Kites in Arabia' (2014, with Rebecca Banks and Penelope Houghton). These works have profoundly influenced studies of Roman provincial frontiers, military installations, and prehistoric structures in the Near East, establishing aerial methods as essential tools in Middle Eastern archaeology. Kennedy has delivered public lectures, such as on his work in war zones, and contributed to editorial roles and committees in the field.