Paulette L. Pepin, Ph.D.
Director, Division of Government and Public Service
Interim Chair, National Security Department/Homeland Security
Henry C. Lee College of Criminal Justice and Forensic Sciences Dean's Office
Henry C. Lee College of Criminal Justice and Forensic Sciences
Education
Ph.D., Fordham University, Bronx, NY. History
M.A., Fordham University, Bronx, NY. History
B.A., Western Connecticut State University, Danbury, CT
About Paulette
Dr. Paulette L. Pepin, a Professor of National Security and History, teaches courses in European, western civilization, espionage and cryptography in World War II and the Cold War. She has also taught UNIV 1125-The UnCommon course in which students through facilitation and discussion focus on understanding that “traits” are characteristics of people that they did not choose and that social values should not be applied to these traits.
Dr. Pepin is currently working on a project dealing with the super-secret British spy agency World War II’s Special Operations Execution. SOE was established in 1940 with the objective of carrying out ungentlemanly warfare through use of subversion and sabotage by sending agents into occupied European countries to help in the liberation of these countries. Dr. Pepin’s specific research is focusing on the French Section and its viability in gathering out SOE’s mission.
Prior to working on this World War II project, Dr. Pepin’s primary research focus has been in the field of Spanish medieval history. She has completed a biography of María de Molina (1259-1321), a queen and regent for the Kingdom of Castile-León. The book, the only biography of this queen in English, was published on 11 March 2016.
See MoreDr. Pepin is often asked how a Spanish medievalist becomes an expert in World War II and espionage, and her answer is, it began with her fascination with reading mystery and spy novels written by such authors as John Buchan, John le Carré, Alan Furst, Graham Green, Louise Penny, Ben Macintyre and Daniel Silva.
Dr. Pepin is planning to publish a scholarly article and then a biography on one controversial leader of SOE, Major Nicholas Bodington, Deputy Director of the French Section, detailing with Bodington’s suspicious activities.
Published Books and Articles
Books
Pepin, Paulette L. María de Molina Queen and Regent: Life and Rule in Castile-León, 1259-1321. Lexington Books, 11 March 2016.
Pepin, Paulette L. Conciliar Church Policy during the Reign of Fernando IV, King of Castile- León, 1295-1312. Lewiston, New York: The Edwin Mellen Press, 2002.
See MoreBook Editor
Devlin, William and Janick, Herbert, The History of Danbury (Western Connecticut State University Press, 2013).
Scholarly Articles
In Progress: Castilian Royal Chronicles and the Church Councils 1302-1311. An analysis of the Castilian king, Fernando IV’s, royal chronicle and absence of evidence concerning these important church councils. To be completed by January 2017 and submitted to a peer reviewed journal.
Assessing the 1295 Cortes: Townsmen as Resisters! - To be completed spring 2019.
Pepin, Paulette L. "A Case Study: A 13th century Marital Contract and its Consequences for the Kingdom of Castile-León." The Historian 75 (2013): 806-819.
Pepin, Paulette L. "The Castilian Church and the Cortes of 1295." The Catholic Historical Review 87 (2001): 165-184.
Pepin, Paulette L. "The Council of Peñafiel, 1302: The Castilian Church’s Reassertion of its libertas ecclesiastica." In On the Social Origins of Medieval Institutions: Essays in Honor of Joseph F. O’Callaghan, edited by Donald J. Kagay and Theresa M. Vann, 243-262. Leiden: Brill, 1998.
Book Reviews
In Progress: Review of The Wise King: A Christian Prince, Muslim Spain, and the Birth of the Renaissance by Simon R. Doubleday. Submitted I July 2016 to The Historian.
Paulette L. Pepin. Review of Queenship in Medieval Europe by Teresa Earenfight. The Historian: 77 (Summer 2015), 381–382.
Paulette L. Pepin. Review of The Queen's Hand: Power and Authority in the Reign of Berenguela of Castile by Janna Bianchini. Taylor and Francis Online Journal. 41 (2013), 135-136.
Paulette L. Pepin. The Gibraltar Crusade: Castile and the Battle for the Strait. by Joseph F. O’Callaghan. The Historian. 74 (Fall 2012), 623–624.
Paulette L. Pepin. Review of The Measure of Woman: Law and Female Identity in the Crown of Aragon by Marie A. Kelleher. The Historian. 74 (Spring 2012), 154-155.
Paulette L. Pepin. Review of Spain: A Unique History by Stanley G. Payne. The Historian. 74 (Spring 2012), 163-164.
Paulette L. Pepin, Review of The Other Within: The Marranos by Yirmiyahu Yovel. The Historian. 73 (2011), 406-407.
Paulette L. Pepin, Review of Making Difference in Medieval and Early Modern Iberia by Jean Dangler. The Historian, 69 (Fall 2007): 579-580.
Paulette L. Pepin, Review of Conflict and Coexistence by Lucy K. Pick. The Historian, 68 (2006): 890-891.
Paulette L. Pepin, Review of A Vanished World: Medieval Spain’s Golden Age of Enlightenment by Chris Lowney. The Historian, 68 (Fall 2006), 635-636.
Pepin, Paulette L. Review of A People’s University: The Centennial History of Western Connecticut 1903-2003, by Herbert F. Janick Connecticut History 43 (Spring 2004): 111-113.
Conference Presentations
21 April 2017 – "Assessing the 14th century Castilian Royal Chronicler, Fernán Sánchez’s, shrouded historical memory!" 38th Annual Medieval and Renaissance Forum, Keane State University, Keane, New Hampshire.
April 2016 - "María de Molina: Queenship and Cortes." 37th Annual Medieval and Renaissance Forum, Keane State University, Keane, New Hampshire.
21 November 2015, "Who are the Irish Costellos?" New England American Conference for Irish Studies. University of New Haven, University of New Haven, West Haven, Connecticut
24 April 2015 – "Queen María de Molina – Regency and Cortes – Defender of Royal Rights!" 36th Annual Medieval and Renaissance Forum, Keane State University, Keane, New Hampshire.
8 May 2014 -"María de Molina: Intrigue and Scandal in Thirteenth Century Castile." 49th International Congress on Medieval Studies, Kalamazoo, Michigan.
11 May 2013 -"Defining María de Molina’s Queenship." 48th International Congress on Medieval Studies, Kalamazoo, Michigan.
16 April 2011 - "A Case Study: A Marriage Contract in 13th Century Kingdom of Castile-Leòn." 32nd Annual Medieval and Renaissance Forum, Plymouth State University, Plymouth, New Hampshire.
9 January 2010 -"Marìa de Molina: An Invincible Queen and Regent." Phi Alpha Theta Bi-Annual Conference. San Diego, California.
24 April 2009 – "Marìa de Molina: A Medieval Woman of Indomitbale Spirit." 30th Annual Medieval and Renaissance Forum, Plymouth State University, Plymouth, New Hampshire.
Grants
2 November 2017 - $100,000 National Endowment for the Humanities Grant - Dialogues on the Experience of War. Primary Investigator. Funding announcement April 2018.
15 September 2015 - $100,000 National Endowment for the Humanities Grant - Dialogues on the Experience of War. Primary Investigator. Grant was not funded. Will reapply 2 November 2016.
Spring 2012 Sabbatical. Awarded to complete research on a biography of María de Molina, Queen of Castile-León, 1259-1321.
2010 Summer Fellowship. University of New Haven. Awarded for research on forthcoming biography of María de Molina (1259-1321) queen and regent for the Kingdom of Castile-Leòn, 1284-1321.
Fall 2004 Sabbatical. Awarded to complete research on article, "Below the Pyrenees: A New Paradigm for Teaching Western Civilization."
2001 Summer Fellowship. University of New Haven. Awarded to complete manuscript for book, Conciliar Church Policy during the Reign of Fernando IV, King of Castile- León, 1295-1312.
Editorship
1998-2017 - Regional Sub-Editor, Medieval History, The Historian, a scholarly journal of Phi Alpha Theta, National History Honor Society.
Coming Attractions
Study abroad programs
- Paris, France – Taught - French Resistance - (June 2017)
- London, England – Teaching – War and Espionage (June 2019)
- St. Hugh's College, University of Oxford (TBA)
Courses
- HIST 3359 – World War I: Passion and Desolation (Fall 2018)
- HIST 3365 – The Holocaust (Spring 2019)
- "War and Espionage" in conjunction with faculty from our world-renowned National Security program. (Spring 2017)
- "Human Rights" (Fall 2017)
Courses Taught
- HIST 1101Foundations of the Western World
- HIST 1101 Foundations of the Western World
- HIST 1102 The Western World in Modern Times
- HIST 3305 Renaissance and Reformation
- HIST 3359 World War I: Passion and Desolation
- HIST 3361 Modern and Contemporary Britain: 1815-Present
- HIST 3364 War and Espionage
- HIST 3381 Special Topics: Iberian Civilization
- HIST 3381 Special Topics: Medieval Society
- UNIV 4450 Tolerance in Modern America