John,

Beginning July 3rd we're offering an online course called Leaving World War II Behind.

This course is 100% online and interactions are not live or scheduled, so you can take part whenever works for you.

WBW's online courses are self-paced, using videos and texts and graphics, available on your schedule, 24-7, and discussion forums in which you can use videos and texts and graphics to discuss and gain feedback, as well as to submit optional assignments for feedback. There are also a few optional zoom calls. Those are the only parts of the course that are scheduled. Everything else is simply available on your schedule.

Learn more and register here.

Course Outline

Week 1: WWII and it's Legacy

What WWII has to do with military spending
WWII did not have to happen

Facilitator: David Sawnson

David Swanson is Co-Founder, Executive Director, and a Board Member of World BEYOND War. He is based in Virginia in the United States. David is an author, activist, journalist, and radio host. He is campaign coordinator for RootsAction.org. Swanson’s books include War Is A Lie. He blogs at DavidSwanson.org and WarIsACrime.org. He hosts Talk World Radio. He is a Nobel Peace Prize nominee, and was awarded the 2018 Peace Prize by the U.S. Peace Memorial Foundation. Longer bio and photos and videos here. Follow him on Twitter: @davidcnswanson and FaceBook. Sample videos.

Week 2: WWII and Death Camps

WWII was not fought to save anyone from death camps

Vanessa Tinker is a lecturer at Collegium Civitas and Analysts of the Western Balkans for the Opportunity Institute for Foreign Affairs in Warsaw, Poland. She has over ten years of international experience as a researcher, teacher, trainer, coordinator and manager of peace and conflict studies-based programs in Asia Minor, the Western Balkans, Eastern and Central Europe. Her areas of specialization include international conflict analysis, peace education, peacebuilding, mediation, and conflict transformation in conflict-sensitive and/or post-conflict contexts. She holds a Ph.D. in International Conflict Analysis from the University of Kent, UK.

Week 3: The Role of the U.S and Allies

The United States did not have to prioritize opposing the Soviet Union
The United States did not have to develop and promote the dangerous bunk science of eugenics
The United States did not have to develop the practice of racist segregation
The United States did not have to develop practices of genocide, ethnic cleansing, and concentration of people on reservations
The United States did not have to fund and arm the Nazis

Cynthia Brain is an independent human rights and peacebuilding consultant based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. As a peacebuilding and human rights specialist, Cynthia has almost seven years of experience implementing various programs and projects in the U.S. and across Africa related to social inequality, injustices, and cross-cultural communication. Her program design and management portfolio includes research on international terrorism education aimed to increase students’ awareness of terrorism types, capacity-building training for women to improve women’s rights advocacy on university campuses, educational programs aimed to educate female students on the harmful effects of female genital mutilation and providing human rights education workshops to improve students’ knowledge of the international human right systems and legal infrastructure, among other locally-led projects. Cynthia teaches multiple courses with the online platform World Beyond War in their sustainable peace and international relations courses and has moderated peacebuilding intercultural exchanges to enhance students’ intercultural knowledge-sharing techniques. Her research projects include conducting quantitative research on female sexual health education in Sub-Sahara Africa and a correlational study on the influence of personality types on perceived terrorism threats.

Cynthia’s 2021-2022 publication topics include international legal research and analysis on children’s right to a healthy environment, which was later implemented into national legislation in Scotland, and the United Nation’s implementation of the Peacebuilding and Sustaining Peace Agenda at the local level in Sudan, Somalia, and Mozambique. Most recently, she assisted on a policy publication for the AU on the status of persons with disabilities in ten selected AU member states, including Ethiopia, and made recommendations to improve the situation of persons with disabilities across Africa. Cynthia holds two Bachelor of Arts degrees in Global Affairs and Psychology from Chestnut Hill College in the United States and holds an LLM in Human Rights from the University of Edinburgh in the United Kingdom. She is also an active member of Rotary International and volunteers on projects being implemented in Ethiopia through her member club, Addis Ababa West.

Week 4: The U.S and Japan, an Unnecessary Arms Race

The United States did not have to engage in an arms race with Japan
WWII does not prove that violence is needed for defense

Facilitator: Farrah Hasnain

Farrah Hasnain is a Pakistani-American writer and researcher based in Tokyo. Since 2016, she has published ethnographic research on multicultural identity among Japanese youth and workplace conditions for migrant workers. Her work has been featured in Al-Jazeera, The New York Times, The Japan Times, NHK, and more. In January 2023, she joined TEDx and did a TED Talk on embracing the experience of aging. She currently manages logistics under the UN system in Japan.

Week 5: The Impact and Myths of WWII

WWII was the worst thing humanity has done to itself and the earth in any short period of time
WWII in western culture is a dangerous set of myths

Facilitator: Elaheh Pooyandeh

Elaheh Pooyandeh is an Iranian peace activist and educator. She has a masters degree in Peace, Conflict and Development Studies from university of Bradford (Rotary peace Fellow) and a LL.M in International Law. She currently works as a freelancer in Iran. In the past she has worked in public sector and NGOs. Her area of work and interest includes peace education, development, chemical weapons disarmament and gender equality.

Week 6: Putting it all together

The world has changed: Hitler is not coming to get us
WWII and the case for war abolition
A call to action

Donna-Marie Fry is a Member of the Advisory Board of World BEYOND War. She is from the UK and based in Belgium. Donna is a passionate educator with over 14 years of experience learning with young people in formal and non-formal education settings in the UK, Spain, Myanmar, and Thailand. She has studied Primary Education and Reconciliation and Peacebuilding at the University of Winchester, and Peace Education: Theory and Practice at UPEACE. Working for and volunteering within Non-Profit and Non-Governmental Organizations in education and peace education for more than a decade, Donna feels strongly that children and youth hold the key to sustainable peace and development.

Learn more and register here.

Thanks!

—World BEYOND War

World BEYOND War is a global network of volunteers, chapters, and affiliated organizations advocating for the abolition of the institution of war.
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