He’s a peace activist who has been on the frontlines of war. He grew up in a violent household and now advocates for peace literacy.

Paul K. Chappell has walked a rocky road to reach his current role as a champion for peace. And he’ll bring his message to the University of the Fraser Valley on Wednesday, Oct 17 as part of the President’s Leadership Lecture Series.

The lecture, titled A New Peace Paradigm: Our Human Needs and the Tangles of Trauma, will take place in B101 (lecture theatre) on the UFV Abbotsford campus at 4:30 pm. Admission is free and the public is welcome.

UFV President Dr. Joanne MacLean is pleased to welcome Chappell as part of UFV’s President’s Leadership Lecture Series.

“At UFV we are committed to furthering the understanding of the pursuit of peace, and working towards the very noble goal of world peace for all,” she notes. “The Peace and Conflict Studies major or minor within our Bachelor of Arts prepares students to contribute to this effort, and hearing from Paul K. Chappell, who’s at the forefront of peacebuilding, will be very educational for them and everyone who attends.”

A former soldier who now devotes his life to waging peace, Paul K. Chappell is well qualified to speak on both war and peace. Through his experiences, he has forged his own understanding of war, peace, rage, and trauma, and has focused on creating a life of vision, purpose, and hope.

He graduated from West Point Academy, was deployed to Iraq, and left active duty as a captain in the US Army.

Currently, he serves as the Peace Leadership Director of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation. He also teaches courses and workshops on peace leadership and peace literacy. He is the author of the seven-book Road to Peace series about ending war, waging peace, the art of living, and our shared humanity. The first six published books in this series are Will War Ever End?, The End of War, Peaceful Revolution, The Art of Waging Peace, The Cosmic Ocean, and Soldiers of Peace.

Chappell’s presentation is titled A New Peace Paradigm: Our Human Needs and the Tangles of Trauma.

Our understanding of peace is only as good as our understanding of the human condition and trauma, Chappell contends. Realizing that humanity is facing new challenges that require us to become as well-trained in waging peace as soldiers are in waging war, Chappell created Peace Literacy to help students and adults from various backgrounds work toward their full potential and a more peaceful world.

The President’s Leadership Lecture Series was established in 2011 with the intent to bring to UFV inspirational leaders to share their ideas with us, challenge us, and perhaps even provoke us.

In keeping with UFV’s strategic goals, these lectures focus on issues relevant to social, cultural, economic, and environmentally responsible development in the Fraser Valley. The events are free and members of the public are encouraged to attend.

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