Artists as Researchers: Dancing Through STEAM
Three Duke alumnae share how they split their time at Duke between rigorous science courses and a steadfast passion for dance. “When I got to college, it wasn’t really a question of whether or not I would continue to dance as I pursued a career in medicine,” Gabby Cooper '20 said. “It was how I could make both of them work.”
Gabby Cooper ’20, Autumn Blamoville ’21, and Akylah Cox ‘21 each boast an undergraduate experience that is best described as “quintessentially Duke”: While students, they split their time between rigorous science classes and equally demanding dance schedules—both inside the classroom and out.
Their academic pathways exemplify the ample opportunities for students who hope to pursue an interdisciplinary education at Duke, and especially one in STEAM, which joins the arts with the traditional study of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). The idea is that students don’t have to choose between being analytical and creative; as these alumnae demonstrate, they can be both.
