“It’s very gratifying. All of a sudden, it works. You’re having an impact. You’re having conversations with people you’d never have talked to otherwise. It makes me want to try it again.”

Sarah Zaman (Trinity ’05)

Learning...To Make a Difference

Sarah Zaman (Trinity ’05): Genetic and Reproductive Ethics

In fall 2004, Sarah Zaman grappled with the complexities of abortion-issue labels in the course “Genetic and Reproductive Ethics” (WOMENST 150). Encouraged by Professor Kathy Rudy to “do something” with her ideas, Zaman wrote an op-ed article about how college-age students more often occupy a middle ground between the pro-choice and pro-life sides of the abortion issue. Her piece was the first time she extended an issue discussed in the classroom beyond Duke.

"It's pretty difficult," she says. "You have to distill your argument to a single page. But it's very gratifying, too. All of a sudden, it works. You're having an impact. You're having conversations with people you'd never have talked to otherwise. It makes me want to try it again.”