Finding Beauty in a Broken World

When faced with the chaos of our times and tragedy in her own life, Terry Tempest Williams asked: “How do we pick up the pieces? And what do we do with these pieces?” To find her answer, this visionary author and naturalist embarked on a journey that took her around the globe.

In Finding Beauty in a Broken World, she delivers a story, a mosaic, that is both heartbreaking and hopeful—an unforgettable exploration of truth from a passionate artist and humanitarian.

In this original author adaptation of her acclaimed book, Williams recalls an odyssey that began on the rocky shores of Maine, where she prayed for “one wild word” to follow after the events of 9/11. That word was “mosaic”—and it marked the first step on a path that took her to the artistic heart of Italy, through ecological struggles in the American Southwest, and ultimately to war-torn Rwanda and the seemingly inconceivable task of fostering healing through the art of mosaic in the midst of genocide as villagers and artists build a memorial together. Presented by the author in her own inimitable words, here is an inspiring story of how we can overcome even the most traumatic wounding the world can offer.

Finding Beauty in a Broken World is a call to listeners to create beauty in the world we find, each in our own way, each in our own time, each with our own gifts. By taking that which is broken and creating something whole, we can begin to embrace both empathy and engagement within our own communities.

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Course objectives:

• Analyze the importance of community, unity, and language through the art of mosaic creation
• Examine in-depth the art of ancient mosaic creation, and list its 11 rules
• Discuss language and some of its potential, then some of its dangers when it is not understood
• Describe the dangers when there is lack of communication
• Discuss the dark violent side and the loving side of human beings
• Examine some of the many forms of language

Terry Tempest Williams is an award winning writer known for her lyrical prose and an environmental activist. Her books include Refuge (Vintage, 1992), Leap (Vintage, 2001), and The Open Space of Democracy (The Orion Society, 2004). She is the Annie Clark Tanner Scholar in Environmental Humanities at the University of Utah.