Lee M. Penyak

Lee M. Penyak is an adjunct professor at Michigan State University and is emeritus professor of history and an associate member of Latin American Studies and Women’s Studies at the University of Scranton. He received his B.A. in History from Fairfield University (1984), and M.A. and Ph.D. in Latin American history from The University of Connecticut (1985, 1993). His doctoral examination fields included colonial and modern Latin America, early modern Europe, and the Mexican Inquisition. His dissertation examined criminality in late colonial and early modern Mexico, with an emphasis on sex crime. This research has led to publications on female confinement (Hispanic American Historical Review), the professionalization of obstetrics medicine (The Americas), spousal abuse (The Historian), male same-sex attraction (Colonial Latin American Historical Review), incest (Sexuality and the Unnatural in Colonial Latin America), and prohibited artwork in Mexico (Colonial Latin American Review).

Additional research interests include religion and haciendas, culminating in three edited works on these topics. For eight years he served as director of Scranton’s Latin American Studies program. He also served as director of study abroad at Western Michigan University from 2016-2021.