BABA Conference 2025 Call for Papers
The 2025 BABA Conference invites engaging, innovative, and thought-provoking proposals that align with our mission to center Blackness and advance the practice, science, and dissemination of Behavior Analysis. This year’s theme, Reclaiming Our VIBES, reflects our collective commitment to amplify the voices of our community, celebrate our advancements, and reclaim spaces where Black joy, liberation, and leadership can thrive.
We welcome submissions for symposia, panels, workshops, and poster sessions that focus on disseminating Behavior Analysis across diverse contexts while addressing critical issues within the field. Presentations should demonstrate cultural humility, affirm Black experiences, and provide meaningful insights that move the science of behavior forward in ways that empower practitioners, communities, and systems.
We encourage submissions that:
- Highlight innovative applications of behavior analysis to address concerns relevant to the Black community and social justice, equity, and access.
- Cover strategies for decolonization and liberation centered frameworks and practices.
- Explore culturally responsive practices within clinical, educational, and community settings.
- Showcase strategies for mentorship, professional development, and creating sustainable career pipelines for Black behavior analysts.
- Host conversations on intersectionality, addressing the unique experiences of Black individuals within the field.
- Advance discussions around organizational leadership, systems-level interventions, and community-building efforts.
- Examine emerging areas of research, technology, and collaboration to support Black communities.
The BABA Conference is a space to learn, connect, and reclaim. It also is a place to restore the energy, creativity, and brilliance that the Black community brings to Behavior Analysis. Your contributions are vital to shaping a future where Blackness is centered, celebrated, and represented.The 2025 Black Applied Behavior Analysts (BABA) Conference invites researchers, clinicians, educators, community organizers, students, and professionals to submit proposals that align with our mission of advancing Behavior Analysis while unapologetically centering Black liberation and empowerment. This year’s theme, Reclaiming Our VIBES, is a rallying call to return to our values, brilliance, and collective power as we reclaim spaces, practices, and narratives for the liberation of Black communities.
We welcome proposals for symposiums, paper presentations, interactive workshops, poster sessions, and fireside chats that expand the scope of Behavior Analysis in clinical, research, education, and community-based settings. We aim to prioritize culturally responsive, decolonial, and liberation-centered frameworks that amplify the voices of marginalized communities and challenge systems of oppression. All submissions should reflect an intersectional lens and align with our foundational principle: Black liberation is liberation for all.
Presentation Tracks
Track One: Liberation-Centered Frameworks and Decolonial Practices in Behavior Analysis
This track explores the role Behavior Analysis can play in addressing systemic inequities through liberation-centered and decolonial approaches. We seek proposals that:
- Introduce decolonial approaches to behavior analytic practice, education, and research.
- Examine culturally responsive and Black-centered interventions that honor the lived experiences of Black and Indigenous individuals and communities.
- Collaborate with grassroots organizations to address socio-political challenges affecting Black communities.
- Showcase intersectional approaches that advance equity by considering race, gender, sexuality, class, and ability.
Track Two: Higher Education, Supervision, Pedagogy, and Research
Behavior Analysis must evolve to honor Blackness and challenge colonial frameworks in education and research. Submissions in this track should address:
- Innovative, decolonial pedagogies that create inclusive and equitable learning environments.
- Black-centered research frameworks that amplify marginalized voices, challenge traditional paradigms.
- Strategies for mentorship and career pipelines to increase representation of Black practitioners and researchers.
- Research that highlights concerns for Black children, youth, and adults and offers actionable solutions.
Track Three: Expanding the Scope of Behavior Analysis for Black Communities
This track examines the evolving applications of Behavior Analysis to address critical issues affecting Black communities. Topics of interest include:
- Self-determination, motivation, and client-centered practices.
- Culturally responsive clinical strategies for Black children, families, and neurodivergent individuals.
- Behavior Analysis in systems leadership, crisis management, and organizations.
- Dissemination and replication of behavior analytic practices to underserved and international communities.
- Supervision practices for Black students and supervisees.
- Intersections of Behavior Analysis with social justice movements, such as abolition, education equity, and community care.
Presentation Formats
- Interactive Workshop (120 min): Participants actively engage in activities and exercises.
- Symposium (50 min): Multiple presenters explore a common theme through research and applied perspectives.
- Paper Presentation (50 min): Individual or team research findings presented with time for Q&A.
- Fireside Chat (50 min): Normally referred to as a panel. A relaxed, conversational space for sharing experiences, insights, and strategies.
- Poster Presentation: Concise research displays that encourage informal dialogue during our poster session.
Our Commitment
BABA’s foundational principle is that centering Blackness is non-negotiable. As we reclaim our VIBES, we acknowledge that our liberation is intertwined with global justice and intersectional freedom. Proposals should align with our framework for determining causes, centering the needs of Black individuals and communities. Whether addressing issues of community care, worker justice, education access, or culturally affirming practices, submissions should offer actionable and impactful strategies that reflect the power of Behavior Analysis to create systemic change.
This conference is a call to action: to reclaim our spaces, science, and collective power. Whether you are a clinician, educator, researcher, or advocate, your voice is vital as we boldly advance Behavior Analysis in the spirit of Black liberation.
Let us Reclaim Our VIBES together in 2025.
Submission Deadline – DUE BY February 15th, 2025
All accepted presenters must register by April 30, 2025.