Anne Poepjes

Anne Poepjes completed her BA (Honours) in Classics and Ancient History in 1995. In 2002, she re-enrolled for an MA and soon after joined two successive archaeological excavations at Jarash, Jordan: the City Walls Project and the Islamic Mosque Project.

In July 2004 she left Australia for the first part of what has resulted in a considerable change in the manner of her research and way of life.

"Thanks to the generosity of a Travel Scholarship from the Roman Archaeology Group, and additional funding from the UWA, I participated in the second Tour of Roman Britain in 2004, conducted by Professor David Kennedy. Born and raised in Australia, it was very difficult for me to visualize and comprehend the sites and landscapes I had learned about in my library research. You can read about sites, study all the details, and know many important historical points, but until you actually see them, you cannot fully understand. The intensive 20 day tour, which incorporated all the major Roman sites, although exhausting, was exactly what is needed by Antipodeans to come to terms with the reality of studying Roman Britain".

After the tour, Anne returned to Jordan, this time to become a long term resident and soon after upgraded her research to a PhD.

"My main aim in this undertaking was to make an exhaustive study of Cultural Heritage Management as it occurs in Jarash; not an ephemeral overview, gathered in short bursts of intensive fieldwork, but a more considered and in depth study. I made a conscious decision to live, not in Amman, the capital city, as most foreign researchers do, and travel to the site daily, but to live in Jarash town itself. This decision greatly facilitated my research, both by enhancing my reputation with the Jordanian archaeological and heritage community, and by enabling me much more easily to understand the problems and issues facing Heritage Management in a site such as Jarash."

Although she initially intended to stay for one year only, Anne is still resident nearly four years later. In addition to her research Anne has worked on various fieldwork projects including the Jarash Hinterland Survey in 2005 and two seasons at the Crusader Castle of Shaubak. She travels regularly throughout Jordan and is a frequent visitor to Damascus and Palmyra in Syria.She currently also teaches English part-time at the Jordan Applied University (which also teaches Tourism, Hospitality Studies and Heritage).

"It is only by the generosity and support of such organizations as The Roman Archaeology Group that researchers such as myself can hope to achieve their goals. Australia is so far from the rest of the world in terms of travel and study, not only in the tyranny of distance, but also in terms of the value of our currency compared to those of other countries."