Conceptualizing Aging and Old Age: Perspectives from Early Modern Europe

Datum
11. Juni 2026 

Hybrid event in the frame­works of the Pre­car­i­ous Aging Network 

Jen­nifer McFar­land (U. Cam­bridge) and Laeti­tia Pil­grim (U. Cam­bridge): Con­cep­tu­al­iz­ing Aging and Old Age: Per­spec­tives from Ear­ly Mod­ern Europe 

Thurs­day, June 11 2026
14 to 15.30 pm.
Online and in Room S1, Ali­son Richard Building

About this event

Age­ing occurs in all human soci­eties, yet how it has been expe­ri­enced and under­stood varies pro­found­ly across time as well as space. This pan­el asks how our crit­i­cal con­cep­tu­al vocab­u­lary for study­ing age­ing might be deep­ened and enriched by con­sid­er­ing his­to­ries of the ear­ly mod­ern world, with a focus on Eng­land and Venice in the sev­en­teenth and eigh­teenth cen­turies. In con­ver­sa­tion with con­tem­po­rary his­to­ri­an Helen McCarthy, our two speak­ers, Laeti­tia Pil­grim and Jen­nifer McFar­land, will explore how ear­ly mod­ern soci­eties con­cep­tu­alised old age through legal, spir­i­tu­al and bod­i­ly cat­e­gories, how they cared for age­ing bod­ies, and how old­er peo­ple exer­cised agency as social, polit­i­cal and eco­nom­ic actors. By his­tori­ciz­ing key terms such as ‘expe­ri­ence’ ‘self­hood’ and ‘(in)dependence’, the pan­el aims to demon­strate the val­ue of think­ing about age­ing across peri­ods and dis­ci­pli­nary boundaries.

Rec­om­mend­ed option­al readings:

-‘Round­table on Chrono­log­i­cal Age’ Amer­i­can His­tor­i­cal Review (2020), edi­tors’ introduction
‑Karen Har­vey and Sarah Fox, ‘Feel­ing old in Eigh­teenth-Cen­tu­ry Britain’ Jour­nal of British Stud­ies (2025)

About the Speakers

Laeti­tia (Let­ty) Pil­grim is a sec­ond-year PhD stu­dent in His­to­ry at the Uni­ver­si­ty of Cam­bridge. Her research inves­ti­gates expe­ri­ences of old age in sev­en­teenth- and eigh­teenth-cen­tu­ry Eng­land. She has a par­tic­u­lar inter­est in recov­er­ing the emo­tion­al dimen­sions of mem­o­ry in old age, and the social and cul­tur­al sig­nif­i­cance of old­er people’s mem­o­ries, mem­o­ry loss, and “feel­ings”. Let­ty is super­vised by Pro­fes­sor Alexan­dra Wal­sham. She com­plet­ed her MPhil in Ear­ly Mod­ern His­to­ry at the Uni­ver­si­ty of Cam­bridge, and her BA in His­to­ry at the Uni­ver­si­ty of Oxford.

Jen­nifer (Jen) McFar­land com­plet­ed her PhD in His­to­ry at the Uni­ver­si­ty of Cam­bridge in 2025, and holds a BA with Hon­ours and an MA in His­to­ry from the Uni­ver­si­ty of Mel­bourne. Her doc­tor­al research focused on ideas about and expe­ri­ences of old age in sev­en­teenth-cen­tu­ry Venice and the Vene­to, explor­ing how arti­sans and work­ers nego­ti­at­ed this life cycle stage and how old age affect­ed prac­tices includ­ing work, mobil­i­ty, and care. Her research inter­ests lie in health and char­i­ty, every­day mobil­i­ty, and the mate­r­i­al cul­tures of domes­tic and urban space. Her new project focus­es on disability.

Helen McCarthy is Pro­fes­sor of Mod­ern and Con­tem­po­rary His­to­ry at the Uni­ver­si­ty of Cam­bridge and a co-con­venor of the Pre­car­i­ous Aging Net­work. She is cur­rent­ly writ­ing a social his­to­ry of retire­ment in Britain since the Sec­ond World War.

CRASSH events are free and open to all unless oth­er­wise stated.

To access the event, please click here:
https://www.crassh.cam.ac.uk/events/50556/