Education

2014PhDClassics, University at Buffalo. Dissertation: De Homeri ingenio: aspects of oral-formulaic composition in the Iliad. Supervisor: Roger D. Woodard.
2009MAClassics, University at Buffalo.
2006MSEarth and Environmental Sciences, Lehigh University.
2004BAClassics / Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lehigh University.

Academic appointments

2022–Associate Professor of Classics, Mount Allison University.
2017–22Assistant Professor of Classics, Mount Allison University.
2016–17Post-doctoral Researcher, Dept. of Computer Science and Engineering, University of Notre Dame.
2014–16Post-doctoral Researcher (collaborateur scientifique), University of Geneva, Switzerland.

Teaching at Mount Allison

Course renumbering noted in brackets. Full history 2017–2021 collapsed below.

Wi 26CLAS 1651 Classical Mythology (105); CLAS 3421 Roman Horror (41); GREK 2101 Intro Readings in Ancient Greek (5); GREK 4951 Lysias (4).
Fa 25CLAS 2411 Greek and Roman Epic Poetry (42); CLAS 3401 Lyric Poetry of Greece and Rome (26); GREK 2001 Intermediate Ancient Greek (6); GREK 4951 Euripides, Bacchae (3).
Wi 25Leave.
Fa 24CLAS 2411 Greek and Roman Epic Poetry (36); CLAS 3201 Greek Tragedy (35); GREK 1001 Introductory Ancient Greek I (24); GREK 3101 Readings in Greek Poetry (6).
Wi 24CLAS 1651 Classical Mythology (107); CLAS 3421 Roman Horror (30) [formerly CLAS 3991].
Fa 23CLAS 2411 Greek and Roman Epic Poetry (45); CLAS 3401 Lyric Poetry of Greece and Rome (20); CLAS 3801 Digital Methods in the Humanities (1); GREK 2001 Intermediate Ancient Greek (4); GREK 4951 Herodotus (2).
Wi 23CLAS 1651 Classical Mythology (101); CLAS 3211 Greek and Roman Comedy (37); GREK 3101 Readings in Greek Poetry (1).
Fa 22Leave.
Wi 22CLAS 1651 Classical Mythology (110); CLAS 3401 Lyric Poetry of Greece and Rome (26); CLAS 3801 Digital Methods in the Humanities (13); GREK 2101 Intro Readings in Ancient Greek (5).
Earlier teaching, 2017–2021 (9 semesters)
Fa 21CLAS 2411 Greek and Roman Epic Poetry (19); CLAS 3421 Roman Horror (26) [formerly CLAS 3991]; GREK 2001 Intermediate Ancient Greek (6); GREK 4001 Directed Readings in Ancient Greek (2); LATI 4001 Directed Readings in Latin (2).
Wi 21Leave.
Fa 20CLAS 2411 Greek and Roman Epic Poetry (24 in-person + 18 async online); CLAS 3201 Greek Tragedy (18 in-person + 4 async online); GREK 1001 Introductory Ancient Greek I (20); CLAS 3101 Readings in Greek Poetry (6).
Wi 20CLAS 1651 Classical Mythology (108); CLAS 3401 Lyric Poetry of Greece and Rome (12); GREK 2101 Intro Readings in Ancient Greek (9).
Fa 19CLAS 2411 Greek and Roman Epic Poetry (22); CLAS 3801 Digital Methods in the Humanities (6); CLAS 3991 Roman Horror (18); GREK 2001 Intermediate Ancient Greek (9); LATI 3101 / LATI 4001 Readings in Latin Poetry / Directed Readings in Latin (2 + 2).
Wi 19CLAS 1651 Classical Mythology (112); CLAS 3211 Greek and Roman Comedy (27); GREK 3101 Readings in Greek Poetry (1).
Fa 18CLAS 3991 Digital Methods in the Humanities (10) [later CLAS 3801]; GREK 1001 Introductory Ancient Greek I (23); GREK 3001 Readings in Greek Prose (1).
Sp 18GREK 1001 Introductory Ancient Greek I (1).
Wi 18CLAS 1641 Classical Mythology (102) [later CLAS 1651]; CLAS 3401 Lyric Poetry of Greece and Rome (12); CLAS 3991 Digital Methods in the Humanities (7).
Fa 17CLAS 3411 Greek and Roman Epic Poetry (13) [later CLAS 2411, redesigned as 2nd-year survey 2019]; GREK 2001 Intermediate Ancient Greek (1).

Independent studies supervised

24–25CLAS 4950, “Greek Tragedy: Performance and Pedagogy” — Jacob Farrell.
Fa 23GREK 4951, Herodotus — Amaya Dujon, Paige Piché.
Wi 22CLAS 4951, “Digital Analysis in Classics” — Ava Waugh.
Wi 19CLAS 4951, “Digital Analysis in Classics” — Alex Kaminski.

Books & edited volumes

2026volumeForstall, C. W. and B. Verhelst, eds. Direct Speech in Greek and Latin Epic: Expanding the Methods and Canon. Language of Classical Literature vol. 43. Amsterdam: Brill. 481 pp. Open access.
2019bookForstall, C. W. and W. J. Scheirer. Quantitative Intertextuality. Springer.
2020volumeCoffee, N., C. W. Forstall, L. Galli Milić, and D. Nelis, eds. Intertextuality in Flavian Epic Poetry: Contemporary Approaches. De Gruyter.

Other publications

forth.chapterForstall, C. W., L. Knijn, and B. Verhelst. “Aphrodite as a Mother and a Goddess in Greek and Latin Epic from Homer to Late Antiquity.” In S. Bär, ed., Transtextual Characters in Ancient Greek and Roman Epic. De Gruyter. In proofs.
2026chapterForstall, C. W. and B. Verhelst. “Listen to Mummy! Epic Mother Speech and Persuasion from Homer to Nonnus.” In Forstall and Verhelst (2026).
2025–datasetForstall, C., B. Verhelst, and S. Finkmann. “Raw Data for DICES Epic Speeches Database.” Borealis. doi:10.5683/SP3/N8LS2Y
2022articleForstall, C. W., S. Finkmann, and B. Verhelst. “Towards a Linked Open Data Resource for Direct Speech Acts in Greek and Latin Epic (DICES).” Digital Scholarship in the Humanities 37(4): 972–981. doi:10.1093/llc/fqac006
Earlier chapters & articles, 2010–2018 (12 items)
2018articleShen, B., C. W. Forstall, A. Rocha, and W. J. Scheirer. “Practical Text Phylogeny for Real-World Settings.” IEEE Access 6:41002–41012.
2017chapterCoffee, N. and C. W. Forstall. “Claudian’s Engagement with Lucan in his Historical and Mythological Hexameters.” In Lucan and Claudian: Context and Intertext. Winter Verlag. Pp. 255–84.
2017chapterCoffee, N., C. W. Forstall, and J. Gawley. “The Tesserae Project: Detecting Intertextuality of Meaning and Sound.” In Strumenti digitali e collaborativi per le Scienze dell’Antichità. Edizioni Ca’ Foscari. Pp. 189–92.
2017articleRocha, A., W. J. Scheirer, C. W. Forstall, et al. “Authorship Attribution for Social Media Forensics.” IEEE Transactions on Information Forensics and Security 12(1):5–33.
2016articleScheirer, W. J., C. W. Forstall, and N. Coffee. “The Sense of a Connection: Automatic Tracing of Intertextuality by Meaning.” Digital Scholarship in the Humanities 31(1): 204–217.
2015journalDictynna 12. Special issue on Flavian epic and intertextuality. Guest editors, N. Coffee, C. W. Forstall, L. Galli-Milić, and D. P. Nelis.
2015chapterCoffee, N., C. W. Forstall, L. Galli Milić, and D. P. Nelis. “Introduction.” Dictynna 12.
2015articleForstall, C. W., N. Coffee, T. Buck, K. Roache, and S. Jacobson. “Modeling the Scholars: Detecting Intertextuality through Enhanced Word-Level N-Gram Matching.” Digital Scholarship in the Humanities 30(4): 503–515.
2013articleCoffee, N., J.-P. Koenig, S. Poornima, C. W. Forstall, R. Ossewaarde, and S. Jacobson. “The Tesserae Project: Intertextual Analysis of Latin Poetry.” Literary and Linguistic Computing 28(2): 221–228.
2012articleCoffee, N., J.-P. Koenig, S. Poornima, C. W. Forstall, R. Ossewaarde, and S. Jacobson. “Intertextuality in the Digital Age.” Transactions of the American Philological Association 142.2: 383–422.
2011articleForstall, C. W., S. Jacobson, and W. J. Scheirer. “Evidence of Intertextuality: Investigating Paul the Deacon’s Angustae Vitae.” Literary and Linguistic Computing 26(3): 285–296.
2010articleForstall, C. W. and W. J. Scheirer. “Features from Frequency: Authorship and Stylistic Analysis Using Repetitive Sound.” Proceedings of the Chicago Colloquium on Digital Humanities and Computer Science 1(2).

Conference presentations

Includes posters. Earlier presentations 2010–2018 collapsed below.

2026paperVerhelst, B. and C. W. Forstall. “Speech versus Narrative in Greek Epic from Homer to Nonnus. The Affordances of DICES for Quantitative Explorations of Speech and Narrative Style.” Panel 7, “Epic through Numbers,” Celtic Conference in Classics 2026, Maynooth University, Ireland, July 14.
2024paperForstall, C. W. and B. Verhelst. “A Gospel in the Language of Lies. Deceptive Lines from Homer in Eudocia’s Homerocentones.” Fact & Fiction: Deceptive Discourse in Ancient Epic, University of Toronto, April 5.
2023posterForstall, C. W. and W. Stagg. “Linking Epic Speeches.” Digital Humanities 2023, Graz, Austria, July 12.
2023paperVerhelst, B. and C. W. Forstall. “Listen to Mummy! A Diachronic Analysis of Epic Mother Speech and Persuasion.” Nonnus of Panopolis in Context V, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, May 18.
2021paperFinkmann, S., C. W. Forstall, and B. Verhelst. “Turn-taking in Epic Assembly Scenes from Homer to Nonnus.” Conversation Analysis and Classical Languages, Madrid, October 29.
2019paperForstall, C. W. “Distant Reading of Direct Speech in Epic: An Illustrated Workflow.” FIEC / Classical Association Annual Conference, University College London, July 8.
Earlier presentations, 2010–2018 (14 items)
2018paperForstall, C. W. and A. Kaminski. “From Words to Scenes: Modelling Thematic Language in Latin Epic.” Atlantic Classical Association Annual Meeting, Halifax, October 20.
2018posterKinnison, J. et al. “Tesserae Intertext Service.” Midwest Speech and Language Days, Notre Dame, May 10–11.
2016paperForstall, C. W. and W. J. Scheirer. “‘The Lannisters Send their Regards’: Intertextual Tools and Theory in the Age of Fandom.” Chicago Colloquium on Digital Humanities and Computer Science, November 11.
2016paperForstall, C. W., L. Galli Milić, and D. Nelis. “Approaches to Thematic Classification for Latin Epic.” Digital Humanities 2016, Kraków, July 11–16.
2015paperForstall, C. W. and L. Galli Milić. “Thematic Features for Intertextual Analysis.” Digital Classicist Berlin Seminar Series, October 13.
2015posterForstall, C. W., L. Galli Milić, and D. Nelis. “Beyond Verbal Identity: Contextual Features for Intertext Discovery.” Humanités Numériques et Antiquité, Grenoble, September 2–4.
2014paperGawley, J., C. W. Forstall, and K. Clark. “Automating the Search for Cross-Language Text Reuse.” Digital Humanities 2014, Lausanne, July 9–11.
2014posterScheirer, W. J. and C. Forstall. “Euterpe’s Hidden Song: Patterns in Elegy.” Digital Humanities 2014, Lausanne, July 9–11.
2013paperForstall, C. W., J. Gawley, K. Clark, and A. Miu. “Two Methods for Discovering Cross-Language Text Reuse.” Chicago Colloquium on Digital Humanities and Computer Science, December 5–7.
2013posterCoffee, N. et al. “Modeling the Interpretation of Literary Allusion with Machine Learning Techniques.” Digital Humanities 2013, Nebraska–Lincoln, July 16–19.
2013posterCoffee, N., C. W. Forstall, and J. Gawley. “What is Allusion? A Digital Approach.” Word, Space, Time, University at Buffalo, April 5–6.
2012posterForstall, C. and W. J. Scheirer. “Revealing Hidden Patterns in the Meter of Homer’s Iliad.” Chicago Colloquium on Digital Humanities and Computer Science, November 17–19.
2012posterGawley, J., C. W. Forstall, and N. Coffee. “Evaluating the Literary Significance of Text Re-use in Latin Poetry.” Chicago Colloquium on Digital Humanities and Computer Science, November 17–19.
2011posterForstall, C. W. and W. J. Scheirer. “Visualizing Sound as Functional N-grams in Homeric Greek Poetry.” Digital Humanities 2011, Stanford, June 19–22.
2011posterCoffee, N. et al. “The Tesserae Project: Intertextual Analysis of Latin Poetry.” Digital Humanities 2011, Stanford, June 19–21.
2010posterForstall, C. W. and W. J. Scheirer. “A Statistical Stylistic Study of Latin Elegiac Couplets.” Chicago Colloquium on Digital Humanities and Computer Science, November 21–22.
2010posterForstall, C. W., S. L. Jacobson, and W. J. Scheirer. “Evidence of Intertextuality: Investigating Paul the Deacon’s Angustae Vitae.” Digital Humanities 2010, King’s College London, July 7–11.

Invited talks & workshops

2025talk“Operationalizing Readerly Judgments: How Quantitative Models Illuminate the Experience of Epic Style.” Amsterdam Classics Seminar, University of Amsterdam, February 6.
2025talk“Sweet Child of Mine: Recognizing Motherly Speech in 1000 Years of Epic.” Dept. of Classical Studies, Western University, January 24.
2025workshop“Style Workshop: Exploring Epic Speeches with Python.” Dept. of Classics, University of Amsterdam, February 13.
2024talk“Digital Humanities Roundtable: Automatically Detecting and Analyzing Literary Allusions and Direct Speech in Ancient Literature.” Shutz Lecture Series, University of Missouri–Kansas City, February 29.
2022workshop“Digital Research Methods for Intertextual Media.” University of Rostock, Germany, June 7–10.
Earlier invited talks & workshops, 2012–2017 (5 items)
2017talkNelis, D., C. W. Forstall, and L. Galli Milić. “Exploring New Methods: Quantitative Approaches to Epic Intertextuality.” Fondation Hardt, Vandœuvres, February 4.
2016talk“Quantitative Intertextuality for Texts Ancient and Modern.” College of the Holy Cross, October 17.
2015workshop“TESSERAE: intertextualité et informatique.” Humanités Numériques et Antiquité, Grenoble, September 2.
2014talk“Tesserae: Digital Humanities Perspectives on Intertextual Reading.” Lehigh University, April 16.
2014workshop“Digital Textual Analysis with R for Humanists.” University at Buffalo, April 17.
2012workshop“Revealing Intertextuality with Tesserae.” Fondation Hardt, Vandœuvres, November 8–10.

Meetings organized

2026panel“Epic through Numbers.” With B. Verhelst and L. Knijn. Celtic Conference in Classics 2026, Maynooth University, Ireland, July 15–17.
2023meeting“Digital Approaches to Epic Speech.” With B. Verhelst. Mount Allison University, May 31–June 2.
2022meeting“DICES: Speech Representation in Epic Poetry.” With S. Finkmann and B. Verhelst. University of Rostock, June 30–July 2.
Earlier meetings organized, 2015–2018 (3 items)
2018meetingDigital Literacy and Citizenship @ MTA. Mount Allison University, May 8.
2017meetingAtlantic Classical Association Annual Meeting. Mount Allison University, October 27–28.
2015meetingIntertextuality in Flavian Epic Poetry. Fondation Hardt, Vandœuvres, May 28–30.

Grants & awards

2025awardPaul Paré Excellence Award, Mount Allison University.
23–24grantSSHRC Connection Grant, “Digital Approaches to Epic Speech.” PI. CAD $22,249.
2022awardMare Balticum Fellowship, University of Rostock. EUR €7,200.
21–23grantSSHRC Insight Development Grant, “Speech Representation in Late Antique Epic.” PI. CAD $58,060.
20–22grantMtA President’s Research and Creative Activities Fund, “Speeches in Epic Poetry.” PI. CAD $11,500.
14–16grantSwiss National Science Foundation #160658, “Intertextuality in Flavian Epic Poetry.” Co-applicant. CHF 8,000.

Software & digital resources

2021–DICES client. Python interface for the DICES API. github.com/cwf2/dices-client
2020–DICES. Database of direct speech in Greek and Latin epic. dices.mta.ca
18–20Quantitative Intertextuality example code and data appendices. github.com/wjs3/quantitative-intertextuality
10–20Tesserae v3, text-reuse search engine, written 2009–2016. github.com/tesserae/tesserae

Graduate student supervision

2024–Co-supervisor, Lotte Knijn, PhD in Classics, University of Amsterdam. “Female Characterization Through Direct Speech in Homer and Quintus of Smyrna.”
17–19Committee member, Nathan Blanchard, PhD in Computer Science and Engineering, University of Notre Dame.

University & professional service

2025–serviceRepresentative for Classics, Faculty Senate, Mount Allison University (second term).
2025–serviceChair, Senate Committee on Committees, Mount Allison University.
2017–serviceTreasurer, Atlantic Classical Association.
21–24serviceMember, Graduation Review Committee, Mount Allison University.
20–23serviceMember, Academic Committee, Maple League of Universities.
Earlier service & professional development, 2016–2021 (9 items)
20–21serviceMember, Data Science Working Group, Mount Allison University.
19–20serviceRepresentative for Classics, Faculty Senate (first term).
19–20serviceMembership Officer, Mount Allison Faculty Association.
19–20serviceMember, Academic Appeals Committee, Mount Allison University.
2019serviceConvenor, Quo Vadimus discussion group: “What Do Grades Mean to You?”
18–19serviceMarshal, University Commencement.
2018serviceMember, Digital Summit Organizing Committee.
2021dev.Maple League Book Club (two cycles): Battiste, Decolonizing Education; Jack, The Privileged Poor.
2020dev.Maple League Book Club: Felton, The Undergraduate Experience. Acadia University.
2019dev.Teaching Triangles, pedagogy peer-mentorship program, Mount Allison University.
2016dev.Data hackathon, Göttingen Centre for Digital Humanities, Germany.
Peer review (journals & conferences)
2010–21journalReferee: Digital Scholarship in the Humanities; Transactions of the American Philological Association; IEEE Transactions on Information Forensics & Security; Journal of Data Mining and Digital Humanities; English Text Construction; Literary and Linguistic Computing.
2016–21conf.Referee: Plotting Poetry 4; Digital Humanities 2020, 2019, 2017; Digital Classical Association panel, AIA/SCS Joint Annual Meeting.