Written by engaged scholars and practitioners, Transforming Cities and Minds is an ""instrument-for-action"" on the problems faced by U.S. cities that have suffered from decades of disinvestment. The book advocates the concept of reciprocal knowledge: real learning on both sides, campus and city, through a complex network of human relationships.

Across the country from Camden to Oakland, the contributors engaged with community partners - hospitals, churches, community development corporations, community foundations, and other rooted institutions - to help restore old cities to life. Their collaborative thesis project engaged them with one another and university staff; it may offer a new paradigm for graduate education.