Creating a Daily Peace Practice

Great peace leaders often describe peace as a way of life. Thich Nhat Hanh said, "If we want peace, we have to be peace. Peace is a practice, not a hope." He asked those who joined him to work on the values and skills of peace every day. The goal is to practice peace with a sustained effort that endures through failure and success. What do you do on a daily basis that nurtures the better parts of your humanity? This workshop will explore how to develop and sustain a daily peace practice.

Paul Chapman is Professor of Humanities and Peace Studies at Valencia College. He attended Florida State University where he received a BA in Humanities and an MA in International Affairs.

His study of human and civil rights began in high school and continued through college. From 1995 to 1998, he engaged with the complexities and nuances of many social issues while working at Capital City Youth Services, an emergency youth shelter in Tallahassee, FL. These experiences, among others, led Paul to Valencia College where he has been teaching courses in Humanities since August 1998 and Peace Studies since 2011.

On the twentieth anniversary of his teaching career, in 2018, Paul took a sabbatical to study civil rights history. He spent 4 months reading books and traveling to several Southern states, going to some of the most significant cities, museums and historical sites related to our history of segregation and the struggle for civil rights. His most recent adventure took place in Rwanda (July 2023) to study the country’s colonial past, the genocide in 1994 and reconciliation, forgiveness and peace efforts over the last 30 years. He continues to listen, read, speak, and learn about these topics out of a genuine need to know and understand.