"My classes have brought me face-to-face with some of the most important questions human beings have ever had to answer, and my professors have become friends, guiding me along the path."
—Jordan Hughes ('17)
Dr. Favelo teaches courses in the history of western civilization, Roman history, Greek history, and historical research methods at Patrick Henry College. Prior to coming to Patrick Henry College, he served for ten years as a lecturer at California State University Fresno, teaching history, literature, and Latin.
Dr. Favelo's passion is to facilitate students in their intellectual and spiritual development, primarily through the medium of a rigorous, Biblically-centered classical education, to the greater glory of God. He, his wife, and his six children live on a mountain farm in Loudoun County, VA, where they raise pigs, cows, ducks, and chickens.
Dr. Hake teaches a variety of literature courses, including Western Lit I and II in the core, and Charles Dickens, American Literature and Poetry in the upper division. He was a college professor/missionary for many years in Taiwan, and more recently launched Rivendell Study Center. He is especially concerned to see PHC students grow in discipleship and personal evangelism. His interests, in addition to literature and reading, include language learning, sailing, and backpacking.
Dr. West teaches Latin and Greek as well as courses in classical history and literature at PHC. His primary research interests are Roman social and political history; biography and historiography; the writings of Cicero and the Stoics; and ancient disability. His work on disability, which he is currently preparing for publication, develops a new methodology for discussing disability in a pre-modern context. He argues that since ancient thinkers did not make a clear distinction between disabled and non-disabled people, reading their works leads to the insight that disability is a universal aspect of the human condition. All human bodies and minds are vulnerable, and every person as well as all cultures face a need to grapple with and adapt to this reality.
A native of Colorado Springs, Colorado, and a PHC alumnus (graduated 2014), Dr. West has a special appreciation for PHC's Christ-centered, classical pedagogy, which has deeply shaped his own trajectory as both a scholar and Christ-follower. He relishes the opportunity to pay this forward to a new generation of students. Outside of Greek and Roman classics, Dr. West enjoys video and board games, bluegrass music, and theater, especially the plays of Shakespeare.
