About This Episode

What does a learning-by-doing educational project in a Boston community, a “Communiversity”

in Nepal, and the memoir, Black and White Makes Gray, have in common?

In this episode of The Gray Zone Podcast, Judith A. Davidson talks with Bertram (Chip)

Bruce, author of Democratic Education: Finding Hope in Challenging Times.

Together, they explore Bruce’s four-part notion of democratic education--of, by, for, and with

democracy--to better understand how this idea can re-animate the discussion of democratic

education. To illustrate his points, Bruce describes educational cases drawn from U.S. and

international settings. In concluding, they compare the goals and concerns of a democratic

education with the progressive educational experience of Davidson and her siblings in the late

1960’s and early 1970’s as described in the memoir.

This conversation takes us into a gray zone: a place, in this case, where competing educational

perspectives, including the identities, experiences, and values of educator, educated, policy

maker, and theorist are bound together in a place where they must make new meaning that will

guide society.

Meet the Guest

Bertram Bruce is Professor Emeritus in Information Sciences at the University of Illinois

Urbana-Champaign.

In this episode we discuss Bruce’s most recent book:

Bertram C. Bruce. Democratic Education: Finding Hope in Challenging Times. New York:

Peter Lang. 238 pages. ISBN: 9783034360227. $94.95 hardcover.

Bruce has researched and written extensively about school and community-based education from

democratic, ecological, humanistic, and social justice perspectives. He is a recognized expert on

the American educational philosopher, John Dewey.

You can find out more information about him and his research at these locations:

 Find his blog at: http://chipbruce.net

 He is also referenced in Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bertram_Bruce

 He maintains a page in ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Bertram-

Bruce

In This Conversation

Judith and Chip discuss:

 The challenge of defining democratic education

 Martin Luther King\'s view on education and character

 Prepositions of democracy: of, by, for, with

 Case studies from Boston and Nepal

 The importance of diversity and community engagement in education

Other Links mentioned in this podcast:

 Collaborative Schools Network (one of the projects in Nepal). See the 2025-26

impact report here: https://youtu.be/Jbwb0XHPYSQ?si=KhF2jCC-5kol6x2q

 Video presenting the vision for the Masters in Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship

program (MSIE), an example of

communiversity. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CStlHuslLW0\&t=35s

 Nepal Communiversity has been selected for a year-long program called \"Innovation

Sandbox\". The program will be carried out by a consortium called the Future

Universities Alliance, formed by Duke University.

 Wally Feinberg, Educating for

Democracy https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/educating-for-

democracy/9BAEDBECA2266D35B884068656AB52B3

 Hyde Square Task Force https://www.hydesquare.org

 Martin Luther King’s college essay https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/king-

papers/documents/purpose-education

 Gandhi: learning by engagement in meaningful

work https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ti8rVl46yLw

The Gray Zone

Every episode of The Gray Zone Podcast explores a place where the answers aren\'t

simple—where experiences, identities, histories, or values collide and something new may have

to be created.

About Your Host

Judith A. Davidson is a writer, speaker, researcher, memoirist, and host of The Gray Zone

Podcast. Professor Emerita at the University of Massachusetts Lowell Graduate School of

Education, she spent her academic career studying human experience and the ways people make

meaning from complicated lives.

Her memoir, Black and White Makes Gray: A Memoir of an Interracial Childhood, explores her

childhood in Portland, Oregon, during the later years of the Civil Rights era and the complexities

of growing up within an interracial family.

Her work today continues to explore what she calls the gray zone—the contested, unresolved

spaces where identity, family, race, memory, and belonging resist simple answers.

Black and White Makes Gray

Coming February 8, 2027

Black and White Makes Gray: A Memoir of an Interracial Childhood

by Judith A. Davidson

Published by Studio Gray Zone

Judith\'s memoir tells the story behind The Gray Zone Podcast.

When Judith\'s white mother left her white father and built a life with Evan Porter, a Black jazz

musician, Judith entered a world that challenged the racial boundaries and assumptions

surrounding her. Told through childhood memory and adult reflection, Black and White Makes

Gray explores race, family, identity, music, grief, resilience, and belonging.

Available February 8, 2027 in three formats: Paperback, eBook, and Audiobook

Continue Into the Gray Zone

The Gray Zone Podcast and Newsletter

Essays, reflections, podcast conversations, and news:

https://judydavidson436181.substack.com/

Judith A. Davidson

Website: https://judithdavidson.com

Join the Conversation

What gray zone did this conversation recall for you?

I invite you to comment on the episode, respond through the newsletter, send a question,

or suggest a future guest/topic.

If this conversation made you think of someone, please share the episode with them.

Episode Credits

Host: Judith A. Davidson

Guest: Bertram (Chip) Bruce

Podcast: The Gray Zone Podcast

Produced by: Studio Gray Zone

Audio production: With facilities and production assistance from Westford Community Access

Television Station (Westford CAT)

© [2026] Judith A. Davidson / Studio Gray Zone. All rights reserved.

About This Episode

What happens when a smart young Black man from Indianapolis plunges into a career in

journalism just as the Civil Rights Movement is beginning?

In this episode of The Gray Zone Podcast, Judith A. Davidson talks with Ray Boomhower,

author of Wallace Terry: A Reporter’s Journey from Selma to Saigon to Bloods, published by

High Road Press, a division of the University of New Mexico Press. Boomhower’s biography of

Terry will be released October 7, 2026.

Together, they explore the breadth of Terry’s very successful career in journalism, and the

challenges he faced, especially the continuing racial prejudice he experienced as he made his

way forward.

This conversation takes us into a gray zone: a place where an extraordinary

protagonist—Wallace Terry—must balance Black vs white as he moves forward in his chosen

career and seeks to improve the world.

Meet the Guest

Ray Boomhower is senior editor at the Indiana Historical Society Press.

He is also the author of 20 books. He has won numerous awards for his work documenting

Indiana history, as well as key moments and figures in modern journalism.

Learn more about Ray Boomhower:

Website: https://rayeboomhowerbooks.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rboomhower

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rayboomhower/

In This Conversation

Judith and Ray explore the life and legacy of Wallace Terry through the insights of Boomhower’s

biography. Discover how Terry\'s journalism shaped civil rights and Vietnam War coverage and

learn about the challenges and triumphs of documenting a remarkable career.

keywords

Wallace Terry, journalism, civil rights, Vietnam War, biography, Ray Boomhower, African

American history, war correspondence, civil rights movement, Vietnam veterans

The Gray Zone

Every episode of The Gray Zone Podcast explores a place where the answers aren\'t

simple—where experiences, identities, histories, or values collide and something new may have

to be created.

About Your Host

Judith A. Davidson is a writer, speaker, researcher, memoirist, and host of The Gray Zone

Podcast. A Professor Emerita at the University of Massachusetts Lowell Graduate School of

Education, she spent her academic career studying human experience and the ways people make

meaning from complicated lives.

Her memoir, Black and White Makes Gray: A Memoir of an Interracial Childhood, explores her

childhood in Portland, Oregon, during the later years of the Civil Rights era and the complexities

of growing up within an interracial family.

Her work today continues to explore what she calls the gray zone—the contested, unresolved

spaces where identity, family, race, memory, and belonging resist simple answers.

Black and White Makes Gray

Coming February 8, 2027

Black and White Makes Gray: A Memoir of an Interracial Childhood

by Judith A. Davidson

Published by Studio Gray Zone

Judith\'s memoir tells the story behind The Gray Zone Podcast.

When Judith\'s white mother left her white father and built a life with Evan Porter, a Black jazz

musician, Judith entered a world that challenged the racial boundaries and assumptions

surrounding her. Told through childhood memory and adult reflection, Black and White Makes

Gray explores race, family, identity, music, grief, resilience, and belonging.

Available February 8, 2027 in three formats: Paperback, eBook, and Audiobook

Continue Into the Gray Zone

The Gray Zone Podcast and Newsletter

Essays, reflections, podcast conversations, and news:

https://judydavidson436181.substack.com/

Judith A. Davidson

Website: https://judithdavidson.com

Join the Conversation

What gray zone did this conversation recall for you?

I invite you to comment on the episode, respond through the newsletter, send a question,

or suggest a future guest/topic.

If this conversation made you think of someone, please share the episode with them.

Episode Credits

Host: Judith A. Davidson

Guest: Ray Boomhower

Podcast: The Gray Zone Podcast

Produced by: Studio Gray Zone

Audio production: With production assistance from Westford Community Access Television

Station (Westford CAT)

© [2026] Judith A. Davidson / Studio Gray Zone. All rights reserved.