Jen Baird

Jen Baird is Professor of Archaeology at the School of Historical Studies, Birkbeck, University of London, and founding Director of the Carena Institute of Sustainable Archaeologies. Her research focuses on the archaeology of Rome’s Eastern provinces, everyday life in antiquity, ancient graffiti, archaeological photography, and the history of Classical archaeology, particularly through the lens of Dura-Europos in Syria. She combines fieldwork and archival research, working with materials now held at Yale University Art Gallery.

Her recent work emphasizes archaeological archives as both data sources and subjects for studying archaeological knowledge formation. She serves on the editorial board of Archive Archaeology and contributes to journals like the Journal of Social Archaeology. As a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries and a member of Academia Europaea, her academic leadership extends to mentoring displaced Syrian archaeologists via the Council for At-Risk Academics and the Open Societies University Network.

Keynote lectures delivered at institutions like the University of British Columbia and the Theoretical Roman Archaeology Conference underscore her influence in theoretical debates. She supervises PhD students on topics ranging from Roman water management to graffiti analysis, supported by grants such as the Open Society University Network’s Lives in Ruins project, which addresses training needs for Syrian heritage workers.