Kate Stewart

Kate is Associate Professor in Sociology, Undergraduate Course Director for the Sociology programmes, and Deputy Head of the School of Social Work. 

Kate joined the University of East Anglia in August 2021. Previously, she was the Principal Lecturer in Sociology at Nottingham Trent University, having also held academic posts at the University of Nottingham, the University of Bristol and Cardiff University. 

She has been teaching sociology at UK Higher Education institutions for over 25 years, and her research and teaching has focussed on areas including research methods, medical sociology, the sociology of food, and the sociological study of veganism and animal use. 

Kate is one of the UK’s foremost academics in the sociological study of veganism and human-animal relations, in particular looking at representations of nonhuman animals in popular media. Her current work focusses on the intersection of gender and species in cultural representations. She has been publishing in this field for over 15 years, including the ground-breaking 2014 book ‘Our Children and Other Animals’, co-authored with Dr Matthew Melsa (formerly Cole) of the Open University. She part of a research team studying the archive of personal papers of Donald Watson, one of the founders of the UK Vegan Society. Through this research she made a significant contribution to the 'Veganism Past, Present & Future' exhibition at the Library of Birmingham in summer 2025. 

She is Series Editor for the book series Emerald Studies in Vegan Sociology which marks the next stage of the recognition and evolution of ‘Vegan Sociology’ in creating a dedicated home for this growing scholarship. This  book series both recognises and advances the field, bringing form to a previously nebulous field in sociology that has been in practice for many years but currently lacks dedicated publications that outline its parameters.

Kate is the Undergraduate Course Director for Sociology. 

She teaches across the Sociology programme. She has drawn on her research expertise to develop one of the UK’s first undergraduate modules on Vegan Sociology, which is part of the BA Sociology degree at the University of East Anglia.