Written by engaged scholars and practitioners, Transforming Minds and Cities 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.