Curriculum for 8th-12th Grade + Adult Ed.
Navigating the Human Condition in the 21st Century
The development of this curriculum was made possible through the generosity of a donor community in Cleveland, Ohio.
As students explore the landscape of the human condition, they use a series of maps to learn about our shared human needs, such as purpose, self-worth and expression, and how to meet those needs in healthy ways.
The first map guides a unit of 23 lessons (this link takes you directly to the lessons). It is the first of seven interconnected maps planned by our Peace Literacy curriculum developers to guide educators and their students as they navigate the epic story of the human condition.
Along the journey, students develop the muscles of their humanity, empowering them to understand the root causes of aggression, recognize the power of calm, and use the wisdom of strategy to navigate the most challenging parts of being human.
Informed by peer-reviewed research and years of consulting with high school educators from across the US and Canada, the lessons in this unit provide students with practice in Peace Literacy skills while helping them develop an increased capacity for empathy and stewardship to positively impact their communities and the world.
In the 23 lessons of this unit you and your students will navigate across four islands. Each lesson comes with teacher notes and beautifully designed PowerPoint slides tested by classroom teachers. Each lesson should last for 60-90 minutes depending on how involved you and your students get in the discussion prompts and supplemental activities.
If you are just starting out and can't schedule time for all 23 of the lessons, we suggest you start with the first five lessons across the Island of Aggression (ending with the Eye of Empathy).
The first of the four islands to navigate with your students is the Island of Aggression where they will find the Eye of Empathy.
To begin, your students will need a printed copy of this Ship's Log.
Lesson 1 The Human Condition
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instructor notes (all the files on this page are updated for 2026)
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lecture slides (all the slides on this page are very large files)
Lesson 2 Warning Aggression
Lesson 3a The Anatomy of Aggression
Lesson 3b Aggression, Play, Excitement
Lesson 4 The Eye of Empathy
Lesson 5a Deimos & Phobos
Lesson 5b Overcoming Deimos & Phobos
Lesson 6a Ares and Athena
Lesson 6b Moral Fury
Lesson 7.1 The Power of Calm
Lesson 7.2 Cultivating Calm
The second of the four islands in the unit help students navigate
The Island of Melancholy where they will find the Doorway of Appreciation.
Aug 2026: links to updated materials are being added to this page daily.
Lesson 8a Sister Islands
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instructor notes
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lecture slides
Lesson 8b The Sirens' Song
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instructor notes
(these notes contain guidance for talking about the issues of self harm discussed in this lesson)
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lecture slides
Lesson 9 The Doorway of Appreciation
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instructor notes
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lecture slides
Lesson 10.1 The Muscles of our Humanity
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instructor notes
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lecture slides
Lesson 10.2 Skill Building
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instructor notes
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lecture slides
The third of the four islands to navigate in this unit is The Island of the Unknown where students will find the Light of Listening.
Aug 2026: links to updated materials are being added to this page daily.
Lesson 11 The Void
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instructor notes
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lecture slides
Lesson 12 The Unknown
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instructor notes
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lecture slides
Lesson 13.1 Our Non-physical Needs
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instructor notes
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lecture slides
Lesson 13.2 Our Non-physical Needs
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instructor notes
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lecture slides
Lesson 13.3 Our Non-physical Needs
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instructor notes
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lecture slides
Lesson 13.4 Our Non-physical Needs
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instructor notes
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lecture slides
The final island on this map is The Island of Conflict
It contains a single culminating lesson (coming soon!)
Lesson 14 Deeper Depths of Knowing
instructor notes | lecture slides
From an educator using these materials in their classroom:
“The students bring up Peace Literacy ideas and themes in other contexts and in other classes. As a teacher that’s when you know that you’ve won. When it’s resonated enough that they’re bringing it up on their own, that’s very exciting.”
Danielle Miles, Spring 2025
All lessons in this unit © 2026, Paul K. Chappell, Stephanie Clapes, and Sharyn Clough and shared here for free download under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International. This license requires that reusers give credit to the creators. It allows reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format for noncommercial purposes only. If you modify or adapt the material, you must license the modified material under identical terms.
There are more maps for students to navigate in the
Landscape of the Human Condition.
Your donation helps us build them.
study guides
Educators and community leaders have developed study guides for the books in Chappell’s The Road to Peace series for their classes, reading groups, and workshops. Click on the cover image to download the guide.
Study Guide Coming Soon