Kazuki Yamada presented ‘‘A history of the present: Sexual temporalities at the rise of sexology and gerontology’ at the QUEX International Symposium 2019, University of Queensland, July 2019.

Abstract: In this presentation, I explore how we might enrich current scientific understandings of later life sexuality by taking a historical, genealogical approach. Beginning with present-day campaigns against sexual ageism, I highlight some underlying assumptions around the relationship between sex and time that limit current debates to dichotomies between decline and postponement. I then draw on examples from the rise of sexology and gerontology at the turn of the twentieth century to show how tracing the complex historical lineages of science can nuance contemporary debates and offer alternative ways of understanding sexual ageing.