Faculty

Assistant Professor of Classics

Email: kwwest@phc.edu

Phone: 540-441-8169

Educational Background:
Ph.D. in Ancient History University of Pennsylvania
M.A. in Ancient History University of Pennsylvania
M.A. in Classics University of Colorado Boulder
B.A. in History Patrick Henry College

Time at PHC: 2023 to present

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.