Nuclear Age Peace Foundation

Author: Jo Ann Deck

Building Peace Literacy Curriculum

“A Year of Peace Literacy” began with NAPF Peace Leadership Director Paul K. Chappell’s talk at the Whiteside Theatre in Corvallis, Oregon last November at the invitation of an alum of Chappell’s summer workshop in 2013, Professor Linda Richards from Oregon State University (OSU). It built momentum with a quick return visit in March that saw OSU Professor Shari Clough and high school principal Eric Wright added to the team, and continued this June with “Building Peace Literacy Curriculum,” Chappell’s workshop for public school teachers and administrators held at Crescent Valley High School in Corvallis. Participants included more than 18 teachers, from every grade level at schools from Corvallis, Eugene, and Salem, as well as vice principals and principals.

The event was organized by Professors Clough and Richards, co-Directors of Phronesis Lab: Experiments in Engaged Ethics, in the School of History, Philosophy, and Religion at OSU, along with a new team mate, Professor Mike O’Malley from the OSU College of Education.

Workshop participants all received sample lesson plans on nine peace literacy skills which focused on three main areas: Understanding and healing aggression, resolving conflicts, and recognizing and applying the power of respect. After a presentation by Chappell, particpants broke into groups to discuss ways to incorporate the lessons into existing curriculum and to shape new curricula. Clough said, “The presentation and workshop were transformative. Thinking of our students’ peace literacy needs in terms of their psychological development was particularly helpful for me.”

Chappell‘s presentation was titled “A New Peace Paradigm: Our Human Needs and the Tangles of Trauma.” He explained, “This is a new foundation for understanding our human problems and on this foundation we can use peace literacy skills to heal these problems.”

Comments from educators ranged from “Paul’s insights were truly new, unique, and pragmatic” to “This is such important work and with endless rewards.”

Clough reported, “We now have a solid team dedicated to future planning around Peace Literacy in our curricula at the primary, secondary, and post-secondary levels.”

“A Year of Peace Literacy” will continue into September, when Chappell is scheduled to return to give several workshops in Corvallis at the university level. Clough added, “There are already a number of amazing educators around the US and Canada working on incorporating Chappell’s Peace Literacy in the classroom. The goal is for OSU to become an organizational hub that can provide resources for educators in Peace Literacy. This is more than a selection of new lesson plans. Peace Literacy is the start of an international movement.”

June 29, 2017
Peace Literacy Skills at Quantico Marine Corps Base Middle/High School

When Paul K. Chappell, West Point graduate and now Peace Leadership Director of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, wrote his first book, Will War Ever End?, he began the first page with a quote from General Douglas MacArthur: “The Soldier above all other people prays for peace for he must suffer and bear the deepest wounds of war.”

This desire for those in the military to seek peace may also extend to the Marines. At the Quantico Marine Corps Base Middle/High School in Quantico, Virginia, the Parent Educator Association (PEA) invited Chappell to address their Model UN class and an assembly of 8^th grade and high school students, teachers, and administrators.

Helene Brown, PEA chair and married to a Marine with two sons in the school, said, “Paul really impressed them with how different our world is today in terms of freedom and equality, providing us hope for our future. Many were also impressed by how different things can be even in different parts of the world…”

Chappell’s topics for middle and high school students also include new insights into violence, anger, and aggression, and the importance of the three elements of universal respect. To students he explains, “Most conflict comes from people feeling disrespected.”

He also discusses issues with his multi-racial identity, bullying problems, and fitting into what he perceived as an unwelcoming world. His goal is to give middle and high school students a new set of skills to use when dealing with anger and humiliation.

“As a child in school, I spent many years learning to read and write, but I did not learn peace literacy skills.” Chappell tells his student audience that he had been expelled from grammar school and suspended in high school for fighting. “The ideals and skills I use to wage peace I learned in the military.”

Helene Brown also said, “His focus on respect and empathy gave us all plenty to consider in our own strivings for peace in our world. We are very thankful for his presence at our school!”

To learn more about the NAPF Peace Literacy program, visit peaceliteracy.org.

November 1, 2016
At Chautauqua: Hope and Peace Literacy

Paul K. Chappell speaking at the Chautauqua Institution in August 2016.

“Unexpected and so fundamentally hopeful.”

This is how Tom Casey of Pax Christi described Paul K. Chappell’s talk given on August 19, 2016 at the Chautauqua Institution as the final lecture for the week-long summer series on “The Ethical Realities of War.” Casey joined about 1,200 other attendees in the open-air Hall of Philosophy, built to resemble the Parthenon.

Activist and writer Susan Dixon, who is working on a book project about the Vietnam War, confirmed the talk’s emotional uplift. “Paul K. Chappell envisions a world without war and lays out a path toward that world based on history, mythology, psychology, and a deep respect for human nature. Those that lead the way will have the strength, discipline, and courage of a warrior to build a world of peace. Paul makes peace seem not only possible in theory but attainable in practice.”

Educator Barbara Mallin referred to one of Paul’s foundational themes: “Paul gives me hope in our shared humanity because he believes the man is not violent by nature. If violence is a learned behavior, change is possible…..peace is possible.”

She also found hope in the new NAPF initiative on Peace Literacy. “Paul cites numerous examples of how humans have made progress in a variety of areas over the past years. It is Paul’s belief that we can also continue to make progress in ending war and waging peace. To do this we must take the time and put forth the effort needed to become peace literate. Just as math, reading, and science literacy are important, so is peace literacy, which educates us on solving the root causes of violence rather than just the symptoms.”

Tom Casey looked into the future and added, “As I listened to Paul, I realized it is people with his military experience, deep insights into human nature, intensely realistic grasp of the world as it is, and commitment to a better world whom we need writing peace curriculums, and teaching our adults and children on how to achieve a more peaceful world.”

Paul K. Chappell’s complete Chautauqua talk (54 minutes with 20 minutes for answers and questions) can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VpJcYLcTS8

For more information on the NAPF initiative on Peace Literacy, visit peaceliteracy.org.

August 29, 2016
Peace Leadership in Minneapolis

As a West Point graduate, Iraq war veteran, and former U.S. army captain who has struggled through extreme childhood trauma, racism, and rage, NAPF Peace Leadership Director Paul K. Chappell will bring his hopeful message of equity in education, our shared humanity, and the skills of peace literacy to the Minneapolis area from November 1-5, 2016. He will address the plenary session of the annual Missing Voices conference at St. Mary’s University on November 3. The audience will include 350 educators, administrators, and students.

Part African-American, part Asian, and part Caucasian, Chappell grew up in Alabama with a father who suffered severe war trauma from combat roles in both the Korean and Vietnam wars. Growing up in a violent household, Chappell has sought answers to the issues of war and peace; rage and trauma; and vision, purpose, and hope.

Chappell explains, “The extreme childhood trauma I experienced led to many behavioral problems during my childhood. I was kicked out of elementary school for fighting, almost kicked out of middle school, and suspended in high school for fighting. When I had trouble paying attention in class or acted out aggressively, my teachers would often become angry and yell at me. They did not see me as a child in pain, but seemed to imagine that I had woken up in the morning with the goal of making their life difficult. This does not mean that every child with behavioral problems is suffering from the same level of extreme trauma as I was, but recognizing that aggression is caused by some form of discomfort can give us a more realistic understanding of what a child is going through, rather than taking the child’s aggression personally.”

For Chappell it was an English teacher who changed his life and gave him the tools he needed for self-expression and to begin to deal with his rage. “I learned about the positive difference words can make when I was fifteen years old. Back then a few simple words changed my life and I don’t think I would be alive today if those words had not been spoken to me. After I wrote a short story for an English class my tenth grade English teacher Janice Vaughn said, ‘I really liked your story. You should think about being a writer.’ I had never thought about being a writer before, because I had never liked reading books. But I pondered what she said and realized I had enjoyed writing that story. So I wrote another, and another, and another. I began writing obsessively, and when I went to West Point I spent more time writing than doing my homework.

“A teacher might be the only person who can be a positive influence on students suffering from trauma, the only living example of how to live skillfully and constructively with strong emotion and hardship. Many parents model bad conflict resolution and listening skills for their children, and how often do people turn on their television and see people resolve conflict in a peaceful and loving way? Peace literacy helps teachers and students to model the behaviors that bring increased respect, self-worth, and a sense of belonging into our communities.”

Now the author of five books on waging peace, ending war, the art of living, and what it means to be human, Chappell has developed the new NAPF Peace Literacy Initiative. Peace literacy skills are life skills, and the ability to resolve conflict and wage peace not only allows us to make a positive difference in the world, but in our communities, families, and personal lives. These skills include understanding and healing aggression, learning the three elements of universal respect, and maintaining empathy during those times when it seems most difficult to do so.

Chappell has already begun to promote peace literacy through student and faculty leadership workshops, campus-wide lectures, and classroom events. “Peace literacy educates us on solving the root causes of our problems rather than merely dealing with symptoms. During an era when humanity has the technological capacity to destroy itself, peace literacy also means survival literacy. Because of the dangers posed by nuclear weapons, war, and environmental destruction, the survival and well-being of our country and planet depend on peace literacy.”

July 29, 2016
Refugees and Peace Literacy

When Paul K. Chappell, NAPF Peace Leadership Director, spoke about Peace Literacy in mid-May to over 400 students at the International Youth Conference for the Christian Community in Hamburg, Germany, he also addressed a number of young refugees from the Greater Middle East. Some of them spoke English, had been in Germany for a number of months, and they said they were hopeful for the future. They had survived traumatic experiences and while they were hopeful, they knew their future was not guaranteed.

Chappell has often talked about the “muscle” of hope, and how realistic hope can survive enormous suffering even when trust has been betrayed. Unlike naïve hope which is the result of helplessness, realistic hope grows from the trust we have in ourselves, others, and our ideals. Participation in creating progress is a higher expression of hope.

“The presence of these recent refugees made our discussion on peace less abstract and more about reality,” Chappell said. “When a face is put on an issue, our empathy can grow.”

“It is important to recognize our shared humanity. When we understand our shared humanity we can see through the illusions of dehumanization and realize when people are trying to manipulate our human vulnerabilities in order to take advantage of us.”

Chappell also addressed waging peace, ending war, abolishing nuclear weapons, and our responsibility to animals and creation. “The refugee crisis is an opportunity to put our ideals into action, to see ourselves in those who are fleeing oppression and war. Germany’s empathy for those fleeing from the chaos of war in search of peace is an inspiring example for all of us.”

May 31, 2016
Peace Leadership for Teenagers

When NAPF Peace Leadership Director Paul K. Chappell visits high schools, he broadens his talk about waging peace and ending war to often include growing up in a violent household, bullying problems, the three elements of universal respect, how positive change happens, and why we should have hope.

Students at Mercy High School in Baltimore. Maryland recently wrote:

“Mr. Paul’s words were greatly wise and will stay with me for a long time.”

“What Mr. Paul spoke about really opened my eyes and I am very thankful he came to talk to us.”

“We have the ability to change the world.”

“I want to help and stop nuclear weapons. I want to try and work my life around trying to end war.”

“I loved listening to his talk and perspective on life and it opened my eyes more to the aspects of life and how I see life itself.”

“I took away that you should respect everyone.”

“One takeaway I have from the guest speaker is the great importance of my actions that have been influenced by the past and can greatly affect the future.”

“The thing that stood out to me the most was his belief that the world is generally a good place and it is getting better. Before his speech I generally thought things were getting worse. I did not have a lot of hope for the world. However, he brought up a lot of valid points that made me think otherwise.”

Comments from Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School in Bethesda, Maryland included:

“I especially enjoyed when you said how fighting often starts because of a lack of respect because I have seen that in my own life but never realized it until now.”

“You are an inspiration to others going through hard times.”

The practical nature of Paul’s talks for teenagers continues to find a welcoming audience.

“Thank you so much for coming to talk to us about peace. You made some really great points that were very eye-opening and talked about big issues in a way that all people could understand. It is very hard to get a class of teenagers to get interested in some subjects, and I am very impressed that you did!”

March 30, 2016
Procession of Nations: Respect and Peace Leadership

At Fryeburg Academy’s annual United Nations Flag Processional this October, each flag-bearer was introduced and asked to say one word in their native language: respect. This event, held in Fryeburg, Maine, was highlighted by NAPF Peace Leadership Director, Paul K. Chappell, who delivered a powerful message of how to avoid conflict through respect.

“Most human conflict,” said Chappell, “is a result of people feeling disrespected. Universally, every culture finds these three things respectful: Being able to listen, being able to recognize someone’s worth and potential, and leading by example”

To end the meeting, Chappell charged all 500 students present, including 145 foreign students, to consider the impact it would have if they could improve in these three areas and how it could change everyone around them: at home, at work, in our community, and around the world.

“Our speaker this year,” said Greg Huang-Dale, advisor of the Fryeburg Academy International Club and ESOL teacher, “captured an essential element of our school’s success in this age: through mutual respect we become better listeners and learners. We become better at sharing our true selves and humanizing others. In the context of our diverse student population, we are breaking stereotypes and the fears that go with them.”

Chappell also spoke at two afternoon sessions with about 130 students each. One special twelve year-old student joined the classes. Fryeburg resident Luke Sekera left his 7^th grade class in town to hear Chappell speak for the third time. Her mother Nickie Sekera, a local water rights activist, had brought him to two different peace leadership events and he asked for special permission to see his friend Paul.

Luke later wrote, “Paul is an easy person to admire because he has the ability to make people comfortable to learn about ‘waging peace’ I also love history and he gives the best history lessons!”

Even in junior high school, Luke saw the value in Paul’s work. “His lessons are important to my generation because it will be up to us to solve big problems such as climate change and armed conflict over resources. It’s never too early or late to learn about peace and how to use it as an educational tool as well as a ‘secret’ weapon for a better world.”

His mother Nickie later posted on Facebook, “So grateful that Paul’s out there showing our youth (and the adults that guide them!) a peaceful way forward. We all have a role to play in moving from a culture of war to a culture of peace.”

November 2, 2015
Peace Leadership in Nuclear-Free Tijuana

Paul K. Chappell, Peace Leadership Director of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, gave a panel presentation on “Waging Peace Today” to 400 attendees at the Playas de Tijuana inaugural event for the international exhibit, “From a Culture of Violence to a Culture of Peace: Transforming the Human Spirit,” on Thursday, June 18^th, at the Casa de Cultura Playas as part of the Municipal Art and Culture Institute of Tijuana, Mexico. Other speakers included Dr. Jorge Astiazaran, the mayor of Tijuana, and Robert Rios, General Director of Soka Gakkai of Mexico.

“Paul’s powerful message, the seeds he planted, resonated strongly in many hearts and minds,” said exhibit coordinator Susan Smith.

The exhibit highlights the synergy between goals of security for humanity and disarmament, particularly nuclear weapons abolition. Developed by Soka Gakkai International, and hosted by the Municipal Institute of Art and Culture of Tijuana (IMAC) in collaboration with Soka Gakkai of Mexico (SGMEX), the exhibit has been shown in 230 cities throughout four continents, including the parliament of New Zealand, the Oslo City Hall, the Senate of Mexico, numerous universities around the world, and at the headquarters of the United Nations in Vienna and Geneva. The exhibit was created to commemorate the 50^th anniversary of the calling for the Abolition of Nuclear Weapons by the second Soka Gakkai president, Josei Toda, on September 8, 1957.

Playas de Tijuana is the northernmost point of the Latin American and Caribbean nuclear free zone protected by the Treaty of Tlatelolco (Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America and the Caribbean, signed in Mexico City on February 14, 1967).

According to the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI): “On 23 October 2002, the Tlatelolco Treaty came into full force throughout the region when Cuba, the only state which had not ratified the treaty, deposited its instrument of ratification. Currently, all 33 states in the region of Latin America and the Caribbean have signed and ratified the treaty. The Tlatelolco Treaty has served as a model for all future nuclear-weapon-free zone (NWFZ) agreements.”

June 29, 2015
From Peace Leaders to Peace Heroes

When Paul K. Chappell, Director of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, visited the Dayton International Peace Museum in Dayton, Ohio, for a week’s worth of events, the museum made a request. Could Paul put down his thoughts about peace heroes that they could use in the spring campaign for their first annual peace heroes walk?

Paul wrote a 2,500 word essay now called “The Little Book of Peace Heroes” published on the museum’s website and soon to be available as a pamphlet to be distributed nationwide to schools and concerned organizations. Paul will also give a presentation at Dayton’s Neon Theatre on peace hero ideals to the museum’s peace hero team captains on Sunday, April 19.

Paul’s Dayton February events included the Wright State University Peace Club, a one day peace leadership training, lectures at Sinclair Community College and Wilmington College, and a peace leadership training for faculty and college staff from throughout the Dayton area.

“Paul is a skilled and knowledgeable presenter whose engaging style appeals to a broad audience,” said Museum Director Jerry Leggett. “His approachability and practical responses to tough questions played well with the university students and faculty who represented the largest percentage of his audience.”

Chappell will return to the Dayton area in late April for another series of events, including as featured speaker at a Regional Rotary Conference at the Hope Hotel in Dayton. The Hope Hotel, located at the No Pass Entrance to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, was the location for the Dayton Peace Accords that ended the 3 ½ year-long Bosnian War.

February 26, 2015
NAPF Peace Leadership Program: 2014 Highlights and 2015 Preview

As part of a busy year with more than 50 separate events, the NAPF Peace Leadership Program in 2014 expanded globally, across the country, and into the American heartland, with special keynotes, trainings, and lectures that brought new inspiration to high school and college students, veterans, activists, college professors, and concerned citizens.

Winter and spring 2014 saw NAPF Peace Leadership Director Paul K. Chappell sharing peace leadership training among First Nation members in Nova Scotia, Canada and war-weary survivors in Gulu in northern Uganda.

In June he delivered the keynote address on “Why World Peace Is Possible” at OLMUN 2014 to 700 students from many European countries at the annual Model United Nations in Oldenburg, Germany. OLMUN 2014 was one of the largest Model United Nations held in Europe.

In the fall the Dayton International Peace Museum in Ohio sponsored Paul Chappell to deliver a week’s worth of lectures in central, southern, and northwest Ohio. He spoke at universities, high schools, and churches, and to the museum’s docents and donors.

His 2014 keynotes included the 29^th Annual Maryland United for Peace and Justice Conference, the annual conference for the Peace and Justice Studies Association in San Diego, and the Minnesota Alliance of Peacemakers Annual Celebration at the St. Paul Landmark Center. Paul Chappell also lectured as part of the Culture of Peace Distinguished Speaker Series at the Soka Gakkai International Buddhist Centers in both New York City and Washington, D.C. He also gave the Public Forum lecture at the University of New England Center for Global Humanities; which in the past had hosted Noam Chomsky, Bill McKibben, and NAPF Advisory Council Member Helen Caldicott, M.D.

In the U.S., peace leadership trainings and workshops were held with graduate students in San Diego, high schools students in Santa Barbara, and community and activist groups in Washington, D.C.; Bridgton, Maine; Springfield, Massachusetts; and Minneapolis, Minnesota; and with the docents at the Dayton International Peace Museum.

Plans are underway for an even busier 2015. This growing schedule already includes the University of California/Irvine Center for Citizen Peacebuilding Conference, a 4 day Peace Leadership training on the graduate level at the University of San Diego, School of Leadership and Education Sciences, and the 36th Annual Convocation for Peace and Justice in Baltimore, Maryland. Other events will include the Clifford and Virginia Durr Memorial Lecture at Auburn University, in Montgomery, Alabama, the Kent State University 45^th Commemorative Anniversary in Kent, Ohio, and keynote speaker at the Presbyterian Fellowship Convocation of Peacemakers in Stony Point, New York.

For 2015 the Dayton International Peace Museum is planning for two separate weeks of events. Museum co-founder Christine Dull said, “Paul Chappell is a prophet for our times. Would that all thoughtful young people could experience his wisdom, whether from his interactive talks or his beautifully expressed books. Through his fine mind and great heart, Paul shows us that peacemaking requires as much discipline as war, but the motivation is the opposite. It comes from the recognition that we are all one human family.”

January 5, 2015