ILKW 2026 A Lot Of Everything Under One Woof!
Thursday Sep. 17, 2026 5 PM To Sunday Sep. 20, 2026 2 PM
Science of BDSM
The Science of BDSM Research Team is led by professor of social psychology, Dr. Brad Sagarin, and composed of academics and community members. Members of the team include graduate and undergraduate students in a variety of fields, professors of psychology, clinical psychologists, and kinky people who are interested in supporting research. The team aspires to produce and disseminate quality research on BDSM (bondage/discipline, dominance/submission, sadism/masochism), and kink related topics. The team seeks to understand the nature, dynamics, motivations, and effects of BDSM activities and relationships. To do so, it is committed to designing and conducting ethical studies, thoughtfully analyzing and interpreting data, and disseminating the results in as objective a manner as possible. The team assumes that many people do BDSM for psychologically healthy reasons, and believes that de-pathologizing BDSM will help the scientific community and the BDSM community. The team anticipates that its research will yield a mix of findings, some congenial to a view of BDSM as healthy and some not, and it is dedicated to being open and transparent about all of its findings.
Dr. Sagarin
Dr. Brad Sagarin is a professor of social psychology at Northern Illinois University and the head of the Science of BDSM Research Team (www.scienceofbdsm.com). Brad's current research focuses on consensual BDSM, social influence, and statistics. Brad has been published in a variety of scholarly journals, has given radio, television, and podcast interviews, has consulted for radio and television programs, and has delivered invited lectures to academic and non-academic organizations. His research has been cited in newspapers and magazines, including The Economist and New Scientist. He holds Doctorate and Master's degrees in Social Psychology from Arizona State University, and a Baccalaureate degree in Computer Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
pup Yuri He/Him
Kyle (pup Yuri) is a first-year graduate student with The Science of BDSM Research Team under the direction of Dr. Brad Sagarin of Northern Illinois University. Kyle’s interest in BDSM and pup play was a long journey of self-discovery, from exploring the BDSM scene in New York City pre-COVID to examining BDSM from an academic view. Kyle has been trying to understand the pup play community, not only from a social psychological perspective but also bringing in his experience from his Master’s in biochemistry and molecular biology from Pace University. Kyle’s doctoral dissertation will focus on the physiological changes associated with pup play. His current project is looking at how Handlers, pups, and others in the BDSM communities view their relationship models, particularly whether pup packs align with the philosophies and definitions of polyamory.
Kyle is very excited to be attending his first leather conference here at ILKW. He hopes to make connections within the pup community and with the larger BDSM community. Kyle looks forward to publishing the results obtained this year and sharing them with all of you next year! {Arff Arff}