Peace Literacy 2 – Navigating Non-Physical Needs, Trauma, and the Tech Tsunami

Teaching Peace in the Age of Technology and Trauma

Peace Literacy 2 – Navigating Non-Physical Needs, Trauma, and the Tech Tsunami is the next step for anyone passionate about teaching peace in today’s complex and tech-saturated world.

Through five weeks of online, trauma-informed instruction, this course expands on the foundational work of Peace Literacy 1 by diving deep into the non-physical needs that shape human behavior—needs often overlooked in traditional peace and education models.

You'll explore how trauma, social media, and emerging technologies intersect with these needs, and what we can do to foster peace, clarity, and resilience—especially for children and youth navigating a digital world.

Why Peace Literacy Matters

As smartphones, video games, AI, and social platforms dominate our lives, teaching peace becomes not just relevant, but urgent.

This course is rooted in a trauma-informed framework, empowering educators and community leaders to build safer, more compassionate environments.

Drawing on leadership principles from West Point and the disciplined nonviolence training of Civil Rights leaders, Peace Literacy 2 introduces a powerful new dimension: understanding how unmet non-physical needs and trauma make us—and especially children on social media—more vulnerable to digital manipulation and emotional unrest.

This course equips you to be part of the solution.

Why This Course Is Unique

Peace Literacy 2 builds on a proven foundation and adds an urgent lens: the rise of digital technologies and how they interact with human psychology and trauma.

Our unique curriculum is guided by three core questions:

What if people were as well trained in waging peace as soldiers are in waging war?
What if we addressed the root causes of trauma and conflict, rather than just the symptoms?
What if teaching peace were approached with the same rigor as math, reading, or science?

By blending peace education with insights about AI, AR, and VR, and using a trauma-informed lens, this course helps participants understand and address the ways in which emerging technologies are becoming new peace issues—particularly in the lives of young people.

What You’ll Gain from Peace Literacy 2

This course empowers you with tools, insights, and language for navigating peace-building in a digital, often disconnected world. Whether you’re working in a classroom, community, or counseling setting, you’ll develop skills grounded in nonviolence training and digital awareness.

You will:

Understand how our behavior is driven by unmet non-physical needs.
Identify healthy and unhealthy ways to meet those needs.
Learn how social media and video games—especially for children—tap into our needs for belonging, purpose, and meaning.
Explore how trauma gets tangled in those needs, often without us realizing it.
Recognize how AI, AR, and VR are reshaping how we meet needs, process pain, and form identities.
Learn how to foster healthy digital habits through trauma-informed strategies and peace literacy.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of the course, you will have a deeper understanding of the non-physical needs that drive both personal and social behavior, and how these needs shape our responses to conflict, connection, and community.

You will be equipped to use a trauma-informed approach to support healthier human development across diverse environments.

You will explore how children interact with social media in ways that can either intensify unmet needs or offer opportunities for healing—and how adults can help guide those interactions more intentionally.

In addition, you will be able to identify both the risks and potential of emerging technologies like AI, AR, and VR, gaining the insight needed to navigate the digital landscape with awareness and empathy.

Ultimately, you will leave with practical strategies for teaching peace—both online and offline—and applying it in classrooms, communities, and professional spaces where real-world impact matters most.

Learning Objectives

You will cover these essential questions:

What are our non-physical needs?
How can we meet these needs in healthy ways?
How does trauma get tangled in our non-physical needs?
How do smart phones, social media, and video games—especially for children—tap into our non-physical needs?
How will emerging technologies like AI, AR, and VR likely impact our answers to these questions?
In what ways are these technologies becoming urgent peace and nonviolence training issues?

Who Should Take This Course?

This course is designed for anyone interested in nonviolence training and peace education in the context of today’s digital and psychological realities.

Ideal participants include:

K–12 educators, school counselors, and administrators
Higher education and adult educators
Community and faith-based leaders
Social workers, therapists, and trauma-informed practitioners
Law enforcement, nonprofit professionals, and HR leaders
Anyone working with children navigating social media and digital environments

If you’re ready to explore peace as a teachable skill—and understand the role of trauma and tech in shaping today’s conflicts—this course is for you.

Instructors

Shari Clough, Ph.D., earned a doctorate in the History and Philosophy of Science from Simon Fraser University in B.C., as well as an M.A. in Religious Studies, and an honors B.A. in Social Psychology, both from the University of Calgary in Alberta.

Stephanie Clapes, M.Ed., is a Learning Specialist with expertise in early childhood education and a focus on integrating Peace Literacy into elementary classrooms. She brings a trauma-informed perspective and has co-developed curriculum with Paul K. Chappell to help children connect developmental needs with peace-building skills.

Paul K. Chappell, a West Point graduate, veteran of the war in Iraq, and founder and Executive Director of the Peace Literacy Institute, serves as our course advisor

Start Your Journey Toward Peace in a Digital World

Peace Literacy 2 – Navigating Non-Physical Needs, Trauma, and the Tech Tsunami is more than just a professional development course. It’s a new way of seeing the world—and the peace-building challenges of tomorrow.

You’ll receive:

A digital workbook
A certificate of completion
Access to a community of peace-minded professionals
Tools for teaching peace with trauma-informed strategies
Deeper insight into how children and social media are reshaping the emotional landscape
A lens of nonviolence training that integrates both humanity and technology

July 7 - August 17, 2025

5 weeks | Asynchronous

Online

$300

300

Request More Information

Additional Information: 2.0 CEUs / 20 PDUs through OSU’s College of Education Professional Development for Educators Program

What is an Asynchronous Course?

Instructors

Shari Clough

Shari Clough, Ph.D., earned a doctorate in the History and Philosophy of Science from Simon Fraser University in B.C., as well as an M.A. in Religious Studies, and an honors B.A. in Social Psychology, both from the University of Calgary in Alberta. She began working at Oregon State University in 2003 and is now a full professor in the School of History, Philosophy, and Religion as well as the Director of Phronesis Lab: Experiments in Engaged Ethics. Clough has co-facilitated workshops with Paul Chappell across the US and Canada, in person, online, and increasingly, in virtual reality. She serves as the Peace Literacy Curriculum Coordinator and as President of the Board of Directors at the Peace Literacy Institute.

Paul K. Chappell

Paul K. Chappell serves as our advisor. Chappell is an international peace educator, founder of Peace Literacy, and Executive Director of the Peace Literacy Institute. He graduated from West Point in 2002, was deployed to Iraq, and left active duty as a Captain. 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 all backgrounds work toward their full potential and a more peaceful world.

Stephanie Clapes

Stephanie Clapes is a Learning Specialist with a background in early childhood special education. Her work spans international families and students with diverse learning profiles—including children with autism and gifted students with learning differences. A passionate advocate for teaching peace at the elementary level, Stephanie brings a trauma-informed and developmentally sensitive approach to Peace Literacy.

She has worked with Paul K. Chappell to co-create Peace Literacy Curricular Units designed for children—and brings that same clarity and compassion to this course.

Past Students' Work

Take a look at some recent projects our students have created.