CARAS Conference: Leather-Kink Research and Clinical Knowledge (C2C)-East 2025

Call for Proposals

Cleveland, Ohio, Friday-Sunday, April 18-20, 2025

Integrated into the CLAW 25 event

Proposals are due by Monday, February 3, 2025
Presenters will be notified by Monday, February 10, 2025

To submit your proposal, please visit: https://forms.gle/KBWS7myCpjSEfmHRA

The CARAS Conference: Leather-Kink Research and Clinical Knowledge (C2C) invites proposals for presentations, workshops, and poster sessions addressing sexuality communities served by CARAS, including leather, kink, related sex work, and consensual non-monogamies (CNM). Both research and clinical topics are welcome.  We invite proposals from diverse disciplines including psychology, psychiatry, medicine, nursing, law, sociology, sexology, anthropology, library science, social work, history, philosophy, and education. Other disciplines are welcome!

The C2C also invites community members to submit proposals to share their expertise. Please contact the conference organizers with any questions, c2c@carasresearch.org.

Illustrative topics include, but are not limited to: health disparities in alternative sexuality (alt-sex) populations; long-term relationships in leather-kink communities; consent; ethics in sexuality; effects of COVID and other infectious diseases on alt-sex populations; groups and practices in alternative sexualities (e.g., pup play); comparative analyses of kink across different regions and cultures; virtual/digital technologies and kink; distinguishing BDSM practice from abuse; clinical issues in work with kinky clients; organization of archival collections addressing kink-leather communities; aging and kink; edge play dynamics; polyamorous relationships in leather-kink; history of leather-kink communities; community-based research addressing leather-kink groups; disability and kink; theoretical approaches in the study of sexualities; religion and spirituality; professional domination; early research findings; sex work; intersections of gender, race, class, and other social/cultural positions with sexuality.   

C2C Conference Registration

C2C attendees should register via a designated registration link that will be posted by December, 2024. C2C attendees are also registered for the CLAW event. The C2C is an "in person" event.

C2C Conference Volunteers

CARAS subscribers may volunteer for 6 hours of C2C support and receive a complimentary registration for CLAW+C2C. Please contact c2c@carasresearch.org for more information.

Continuing Education (CE) Credit

CARAS is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. CARAS maintains responsibility for this program and its content.

C2C Contact information and links:

To submit your proposal, please visit: https://forms.gle/KBWS7myCpjSEfmHRA

To register for the C2C conference, please visit (updated link for 2025 forthcoming): https://www.clawinfo.org/caras

The program from the C2C East-2024 Conference can be downloaded here: https://caras-researchlink.org/c2c_east_2024_program

To subscribe to CARAS, please visit: https://carasresearch.org/subscribe

We suggest that you join the CARAS Announcements Listserv, and/or follow CARAS on X (Twitter) for updates regarding the C2C.

For information about the CLAW 25 event, please visit: https://clawinfo.org

For current information regarding the C2C (this page), please visit https://carasresearch.org/c2c-east

For questions regarding the C2C, please email c2c@carasresearch.org 

For information about the CARAS Education Program, please visit https://caras-researchlink.org/education