CARAS Reading Group: History and Theory of Kink and BDSM

Overview: 2025 Modern Semester

CARAS is excited to announce the 2025 Modern semester of the CARAS history and theory reading group focused on Kink and BDSM. A cross between a literary salon and a graduate seminar, the CARAS reading group focuses on texts and ideas relevant to the study of Kink/BDSM/Leather communities from a unique angle in the study of sexualities.

The CARAS reading group is conducted in two complementary “semesters” each year: A Classics semester beginning in August, and a Modern semester beginning in February. The Modern semester is organized topically and will focus on issues that have gained prominence in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. The Modern semester monthly topics for 2025 are listed below.

The Classics semester’s focus is on classic and canonical readings relevant to the history of Kink and modern scholarship addressing Kink/BDSM. The 2025 Classics semester begins on Sunday, August 3, 2025. Each semester of the reading group has a separate reading list and registration.

CARAS Reading Group Modern Semester Monthly Topics (2025):

Sex Wars (February 2, 2025)

Consent (March 2, 2025)

Intersections (April 6, 2025)

Dominatrix (May 4, 2025)

Community (June 1, 2025)

To register, please visit: https://forms.gle/dHyjw2gcNbyQm9FV7

Please register by Friday, January 31, 2025

Some DEtails

Learn More About the Reading Group! Meet & Greet, Sunday, January 26, 2025.

Please join us to meet the facilitators and other reading group participants, discuss and learn more about the CARAS Reading Group, and have your questions answered! The Meet & Greet for the Reading Group Modern Semester 2025 will be held on Sunday, January 26, 2025, 10-11am (Pacific)/1-2pm (Eastern). Open to everyone!

Sign-up for the Reading Group Meet & Greet here: https://forms.gle/ABG8Y9qtqarr42Kq7

What’s New for 2025?

We refine and update the content of the Reading Group each year. For 2025, we have added a new monthly topic: Dominatrix. In addition, we welcome Leonora Weston, also known by her professional pseudonym Anne O Nomis, as a member of the Reading Group faculty (see bio below).

If you’ve participated in the Reading Group in the past, returning to reengage these important and challenging texts can be rewarding. For many participants - academics, clinicians, and community members - the experience of the CARAS Reading Group is like a college course/graduate seminar that we never had in school!

Meeting Times

There will be one section of the 2025 Modern Semester reading group. The reading group will meet once per month from February to June 2025, meeting a total of five times. The group will meet on the first Sunday of the month, generally from 10am-noon (Pacific); 11am - 1pm (Mountain); noon-2pm (Central); 1-3 pm (Eastern) - reference time zone to verify local times; 6-8 pm (London); 7-9pm (Prague, Stockholm, Berlin). On May 4, 2025, the Reading Group will start two hours later at 3pm (Eastern).

Meeting Location

The group will meet virtually via Google Meet. The facilitators will send out Google Meet information to participants prior to the meeting.

Meeting Expectations

Reading group members are expected to complete designated readings before each meeting and to attend meetings. Our vision of the reading group is of a group of people who will, over the five month period of the reading group, work together and support each other while engaging these significant and challenging texts. Thus, regular attendance is important.

Members

Any current subscriber to the Community-Academic Consortium for Research on Alternative Sexualities (CARAS) is welcome to join the reading group!

To become a CARAS subscriber, please visit: https://carasresearch.org/subscribe

Topics, Readings

Readings are designated for each monthly topic. Readings are in one of two categories: primary readings for each month (approximately 200 pages), and additional recommended readings that are relevant to the monthly topic. Recommended readings are optional. The Reading Group Schedule and Reading List is posted via Google Docs, and may be updated. Please note that a number of these readings require access to a library or purchase.

Cost

For CARAS Subscribers, participation in the reading group is free.

There may be additional costs for reading materials.

Information Sheet

A Reading Group Information Sheet that addresses various topics and policies is available. For any additional questions, please contact CARAS at education@carasresearch.org.

How do I Join?

Register for the 2025 Modern Reading Group here: https://forms.gle/dHyjw2gcNbyQm9FV7. Please note that the deadline for registration is Friday, January 31, 2025.

Stay in Touch

Please join the CARAS announcements listserv for notifications and information about future iterations of the CARAS Reading Group.

Reading Group Facilitators

The primary facilitators for the 2025 CARAS Reading Group Modern Semester are Mel Leverich, MAS, Michael Sappol, Ph.D., and Leonora Weston, MA. Please see the bios for Mel, Mike, and Leonora below.

history and theory of kink and bdsm Reading Group CO-Facilitator: Mel Leverich

Mel Leverich (they/them) has been the Archivist and Collections Librarian for the Leather Archives and Museum in Chicago since 2017. Mel has a Masters of Archival Studies from the University of British Columbia. Mel is a member of the CARAS Institutional Review Board (IRB).

history and theory of kink AND bdsm Reading Group Co-Facilitator: Mike sappol

Mike Sappol, Ph.D., lives in Stockholm, Sweden and is a visiting researcher at Uppsala University. For many years he was a curator and scholar-in-residence in the History of Medicine Division of the National Library of Medicine (USA).

Sappol’s work focuses on the history of anatomy, death, and the visual culture of medicine and science in film, illustration and exhibition. He is the author of A Traffic of Dead Bodies (2002), Dream Anatomy (2006), and Body Modern (2017), editor of A Cultural History of the Human Body in the Age of Empire (2010), and emeritus curator of Medical Movies on the Web. His new book, Queer Anatomies: Aesthetics and Desire in the Anatomical Image 1700-1900 (Bloomsbury), will come out in March 2024.

Sappol is currently working on two new book projects, Anatomy’s Photography: Objectivity, showmanship and the reinvention of the anatomical image, 1860-1950 and Endangered Specimen: The politics and ethics of medical museums and artefacts. A CV and links to PDFs of selected works can be found at his profile page on academia.edu. Sappol is a member of the CARAS Research Advisory Committee.