Daemen University student Dylan Dick, who will graduate with a degree in business administration and a minor in philosophy on May 16, recently brought his philosophy paper to life by creating a walking tour in Buffalo.
Dick was inspired by a foundational book that he read in his philosophy class, The Death and Life of Great American Cities, by Jane Jacobs, an American-Canadian urban activist, author, and journalist. “Her ideas greatly influenced the walk and have given many different views on what a city could look like and what it could be,” he said.
After Jacobs’ death in 2006, Toronto residents began hosting volunteer-led walks of city neighborhoods called Jane’s Walks. “Jane’s Walks have expanded to hundreds of cities around the globe, including right here in Buffalo,” Dick said. “This was the inspiration behind my tour and a way to honor Jane Jacobs and explore different philosophical ideas behind Delaware Park in Buffalo.”
The walking tour took over a month for Dick to finalize. “The research element of it was intensive; the tour comprises over 20 different sources of relevant information,” he said. “I also needed to find a suitable route for the tour, which involved me getting out, walking it and timing it myself to ensure it would work in the way I wanted it to.”
“I know how hard Dylan worked on his paper, and sharing it with the community through his tour is a great application of ideas we studied from Jacobs and Olmsted,” said Dr. Jerry Erion, instructor of philosophy and ethics. “He did an excellent job with all of it, and I can’t wait to see what he does next! It’s truly inspiring.”
Dick said the response to the walking tour has been positive. “Dr. Erion and I were able to schedule my walk as part of Jane’s Walk Buffalo and I delivered the walk earlier this month to over 20 people,” he said. “It was a great way to showcase a historic location within the city of Buffalo and people responded to it in a way that made me feel very proud.”
He added, “This walk allowed me to combine two of my passions—urbanism and cities—with my love for philosophy, and gave me the opportunity to examine ideas around the creation of iconic spaces within the city I live. This was the greatest capstone to my college career at Daemen I could ever have asked for!”