Grant Category:	Fulbright-Nehru Student Research Program
Field of Specialization:	Anthropology
Name:	Ms. Aaron McMullins
Official Address:	At-Large, Colorado, California
Indian Host Institution:	Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, Maharashtra
Duration of Grant & Start Date :	Duration: 9 months August 2011

Brief Bio:

Ms. Aaron McMullins earned her B.A. from Sarah Lawrence College with a concentration in sociology and political geography. During her studies she took special interest in cotton production in India. In addition to writing an analytical research paper on that subject for one of her classes, Aaron wrote a children's book about the cotton commodity chain, "The Shirt that Tom Bought." Since graduating, she has completed illustrations for "The Shirt that Tom Bought" and is pursuing publication. Ms. McMullins has worked as a camp counselor and an academic tutor for over five years. She is sincerely interested in finding engaging and creative ways to teach young people about global issues. From June 2009 till June 2010, Ms. McMullin was an intern at The Link School, an alternative high school in central Colorado. There she had the opportunity to counsel teenagers, tutor them in their academics, and teach a class entitled "Sustainable Living." In her class, Aaron and her students explored how their personal practices and lifestyles could potentially support sustainable agriculture, alternative energy, and healthy ecosystems. Aaron is very interested in continuing to work with young people and finding new and creative ways to broaden their view of the world and themselves. Ms. McMullins' Fulbright-Nehru research is titled as "Cotton Farmers, Sustainability, and the Modernization of Agriculture: An Ethnography." Globally, there is great debate as to whether or not technological changes in agriculture have led to higher yield, stronger ecosystems, and better lifestyles. Missing from this debate is the perspective of the farmers. Through an ethnographic study using interviews and surveys, Ms. McMullins hopes to better grasp the context in which small-scale cotton farmers in Maharashtra, India operate, thereby better understanding the production decisions that these farmers make.