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PeaceWorks to cosponsor 3-part online Peace Literacy Workshop

Paul K. Chappell

Meeting human needs is absolutely fundamental to finding peace within, and that is the foundation for peace in the world.

So says Paul Chappell, director of the Peace Literacy Institute. He will facilitate the online workshop PeaceWorks-KC is cosponsoring: the Peace Literacy Workshop 2-7 pm EST (1-6 pm CST) Feb. 7, 14, and 21.

Peace literacy focuses on a skill set that promotes well-being at the personal, social, and political levels. Chappell finds that trauma—especially childhood trauma, racial trauma, and war trauma—gets tangled in our non-physical needs. Here’s Chappell’s mix of our nine non-physical needs and the effects of trauma: 

purpose and meaning – meaninglessness and nihilism,

nurturing relationships – mistrust,

explanations – disillusionment and ruthless worldview,

expression – rage, 

inspiration – numbness and cynicism,

belonging – alienation,

self-worth – shame and self-loathing, 

challenge – helplessness, and

transcendence – addiction and addictive behavior.

Chappell, the workshop facilitator, is a West Point graduate and Iraq War veteran (see www.peaceliteracy.org). Co-facilitator Sharyn Clough is the peace literacy curriculum coordinator and professor of philosophy at Oregon State University. The program is an initiative of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation.

Persons may register for between $150 and $350, depending on their resources. Before the workshop, registrants receive the book Soldiers of Peace, by Chappell, and course worksheets. Ann Suellentrop, a PeaceWorks-KC Board member, took the online course this year. She says, “To read, you have to be taught. To make peace, we have to be taught peace literacy.”

A note on Chappell: He was raised in Alabama, the son of a Korean mother and a half-black and half-white father who was a veteran of the Korean and Vietnam wars. Having grown up in a violent household, Chappell was driven to seek solutions to the problems of war, rage, and trauma.

Contact Suellentrop at 913-271-7925 for first-hand information on the workshop. To register, e-mail Jo Ann Deck at jdeck@peaceliteracy.org. Suellentrop likes to quote Chappell: “Peace literacy is a human right. Without this skill set, how can we expect people to be able to create a peaceful world?”

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Meeting human needs is absolutely fundamental to finding peace within, and that is the foundation for peace in the world. So says Paul Chappell, who will facilitate the online workshop PeaceWorks-KC is cosponsoring Feb. 7, 14, 21.
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