Dr. Kate Sylvester is an adjunct fellow of Victoria University, Australia. She was previously a research affiliate of GIH, The Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences (2022-2023), and Lund University (2020-2022).
Kate’s research interests focus on intersectional approaches to sport, martial arts and the educational framework of Japan’s school club sport system (bukatsudo), women’s martial histories, and ethnographic research methodologies. Her recent book titled Women and Martial Art in Japan (2022) is based on extensive original ethnographic research that examined identity politics and women’s sport and university kendo in Japan.
As a Japan Foundation Research Fellow in 2022, she completed fieldwork in Japan that surveyed female student-athlete views on social role norms and the learning outcomes and career possibilities related to university club sport. She is currently examining gender equality policy and work in martial arts and combat sport.
Research Collectives and Committees
Kate is a founding member of Critical Embodied Women’s Martial Art (CEWMA). The International Research Group is a collective of international scholars engaging in 10 different martials. The group is focused on researching women and non-binary athletes’ experiences in martial arts, moving beyond simple “women’s empowerment” narratives to consider how women and non-binary people are advancing martial arts training and pedagogies, resisting masculinist and patriarchal traditions, and leading the next generation of recreational and high performance athletes. Together with Drs. Fabiana Turelli (University of Manitoba), Tricia McGuire Adams (University of Toronto), and Janelle Joseph (Brock University), Chloe Bellec (Tohoku University), Kate is advancing knowledge on embodiment and important issues in martial arts.
Kate is also a research committee member of the Swedish Budo and Martial Arts Federation.
Association Memberships
Japan Society for Sport and Gender Studies
International Sociology of Sport Association
North American Society for the Sociology of Sport
