Grant Category:	Fulbright-Nehru Student Research Program
Field of Specialization:	Gender Studies
Name:	Ms. Robin Miniter
Official Address:	Marist College, New York
Indian Host Institution:	Aligarh Muslim University Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh
Duration of Grant & Start Date :	Duration: 9 months August 2011

Brief Bio:

Ms. Robin Miniter is a recent graduate of Marist College in Poughkeepsie, New York where she majored in journalism with minors in women's studies and global studies. During her collegiate career, she studied in Italy for one year through the college's Florence Freshman Experience and completed her final semester of college in Amsterdam, Netherlands, completing research through the School for International Training on "Sexuality and Gender Studies" with a focus on the sociology of the female athletic body in roller derby. She has received recognition for her photography from the National Association of Photoshop Professionals and has worked as Lifestyles Editor, Photography Editor, and Staff Writer for "The Circle", the student newspaper, and was a member of the nationally ranked Marist College Women's Rugby squad. As a passionate athlete, she hopes to fuse her passions of gender studies, photography and sport sociology through her Fulbright grant. India's athletic arena - particularly that of the rugby pitch - has recently experienced exciting advances in the participation of women. More Indian women than ever are lacing up their cleats and putting on jerseys as active participants in a traditionally masculine realm. Are they on the verge of recasting the understanding of traditional gender roles and performance? Through her Fulbright-Nehru research titled "Photo-documentation of the emerging roles of female athletes in the Delhi region," Ms. Miniter will document, with her camera and through interviews, the evolution of these changes and the experiences — on and off the pitch.