David Brooks on Spirituality

Acclaimed author and New York Times columnist David Brooks will the featured speaker for the Forum for Life and Meaning, a joint program of HIU and the Spiritual Life Center. 

PLEASE NOTE: This in-person-only event will take place at the Aetna Theater at the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art. 

Registration details to come in our emailed newsletter. Sign up at this link.

About David Brooks

Our speaker, David Brooks, is a bestselling author, a recurring commentator on PBS NewsHour, and an op-ed columnist at the New York Times whose columns are among the most read in the nation. He is the author of six books including the bestsellers The Second Mountain, The Road to Character, The Social Animal, and Bobos in Paradise. His newest bestseller, How to Know a Person: The Art of Seeing Others Deeply and Being Deeply Seen, is a guide to fostering authentic connection in a society plagued by loneliness and fragmentation. Brooks is the founder and chair of Weave: The Social Fabric Project at the Aspen Institute whose mission is to promote the building of connection and the weaving of a rich social fabric in our schools, workplaces, and every part of life. He has been awarded more than 30 honorary degrees from American colleges and universities, was a Jackson Senior Fellow at Yale, and is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

The Forum for Life and Meaning

It is the goal of the Forum for Life and Meaning, previously called the Robertson Spirituality Series, to provide provocative and nourishing presentations to seekers from all backgrounds. We hope to provide speakers who come from all faiths and no faith, who will address spirituality’s intersection with:

• environmental justice, eco-spirituality, and racial concerns
• the rich tradition of mystical and contemplative devotion throughout world history
• “thin places”
• concerns of health, beauty, harmony, and mortality.

The series will enrich spirituality in a variety of ways, including, but not limited to, lectures, seminars, retreats, book groups, discussions, and trips to sacred places.

Sponsoring organizations

With roots that go back to 1834, Hartford International (HIU) is a pioneering, interreligious, international university. It is home to the Center for Transformative Spirituality. The Center for Transformative Spirituality partners with the Spiritual Life Center, which provides spiritual support for those who seek a deeper spiritual life and welcomes people from any spiritual or religious tradition, or no religious affiliation. The Spiritual Life Center offers programs of spiritual companionship and discernment and co-sponsors events with HIU throughout the year. For more information about HIU, please visit hartfordinternational.edu For more information about the Spiritual Life Center, please visit spiritlifectr.org