Fostering Democracy Through Teaching

On this episode of EJBTalks Stuart welcomes Professor Emeritus Bob Lake, who helped shape our world ranked Urban Planning Program and led our doctoral program. Stuart asks Bob to share his vision of Urban Planning. Bob talks to Stuart about his book on John Dewey, and how Dewey's perspective of the Planning City, the continuous process of figuring out how best to live together, is his ideal of the practice of Planning. The two then delve into the current political atmosphere in the US, the benefits and pitfalls surrounding the current state of community engagement and its incredible importance but possible degradation to the democratic political process. Bob shares with Stuart his feeling of optimism about the future, based on his 46 years of educating astute and enthusiastic Bloustein students into democratically capable citizens who are committed to the long haul of figuring out how to make this world a better place.