معرفی
J. Matthew Harrington serves as a Teaching Professor in both Classical Studies and History at Tufts University's School of Arts and Sciences. His academic appointments span from 2010 to present, progressing from Lecturer to Distinguished Senior Lecturer and currently Teaching Professor.
Harrington earned his PhD in Classical Studies from the University of Michigan–Ann Arbor (2009), an MA in Classical Archaeology from the same institution (2008), an MA in Comparative Literature from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville (2001), and dual BA degrees in Classical Studies and Psychology, both Summa Cum Laude, from the University of Arkansas (1998).
Harrington's research centers on digital humanities approaches to classical languages, particularly through his development of treebanked commentaries - fully diagrammed and analyzed Latin and Greek texts where every word, clause, and phrase is morphologically identified and syntactically labeled. His work bridges linguistic analysis with material culture studies, examining the interplay of social discourses across linguistic practice and material culture. He has extensive archaeological field experience at sites including the Athenian Agora, Corinth, Pompeii, Gabii, Roma, Samothrace, and Provence.
His publications demonstrate a consistent focus on creating digital resources for classical language pedagogy and research, with particular emphasis on dependency grammar approaches to Latin and Greek syntax. These works form the foundation for both teaching tools and computational analysis of classical texts.
- Tufts First Year and Sophomore Survey: Significant Impact (2018-2019)
- Tufts Senior Survey: Exceptional Course (2018-2019)
- Faculty Fellow 2016 from CELT (Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching)
- Tufts Senior Survey: Significant Impact (2013-2016)
Harrington actively involves students in his research through collaborative treebanking projects, where undergraduate and graduate students contribute to digital commentaries on classical texts. His teaching portfolio is extensive, covering ancient archaeology, literature, language, and comparative cultural studies across the ancient Afro-Eurasian world. He serves on various university committees including the International Relations Faculty Advisory Board and the Academic Review Board.
The Perseids Project's Treebanked Commentaries, which Harrington directs, represents a significant collaborative effort between students and faculty to create machine-actionable XML datasets that make complex classical texts transparent while enabling quantitative analysis of Latin and Greek stylistics.
