Sarah Besky

Sarah Besky, a graduate student in Anthropology, completed her BA at Connecticut College in Anthropology and Asian Religions. Before entering graduate school, Sarah lived in Kathmandu, Nepal, and conducted research on tourism and tourist art. Her interests now revolve around environmental and development anthropology in Northern India, specifically in Darjeeling. Sarah’s interests in Darjeeling and environmental issues were piqued by her growing concern for the Nepalese civil war and the lives of the Nepalis who have fled to their families in India. In her preliminary field research, Sarah will work as an intern at the Makaibari tea plantation in Darjeeling, a fully organic and fair-trade plantation and the home of many Nepali migrants. She will also be volunteering with NGOs working in tea plantation communities in Darjeeling. During her internship, she hopes to understand how tea workers conceptualize these new agricultural philosophies of production, which are part of a larger sustainable development movement in India.

Read on about Sarah’s internship in Darjeeling here.