AN Prof. Henchand Gossai Publishes New Book

Dr. Hemchand Gossai, associate dean of humanities and social sciences at the Annandale Campus has published a new book entitled, Take Heart: From Despair to Hope in Turbulent Times.

Dr. Gossai explores several ancient Hebrew narratives including Ruth, Cain and Abel, Job, together with Sophocles Antigone, Shakespeare’s King Lear, Henrik Ibsen’s, An Enemy of the People and The Wild Duck, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Martin Luther King, Jr. and Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel, among others in the context of consequential and universal issues such as compassion and care, empathy and equity, refugee crises, capital punishment, abuse of political power, trauma and memory, freedom and choice.

Professor Walter Brueggemann (Columbia University) says “Gossai is a master of interpretation…The outcome is an exposition of ethical insistence that in the end empowers us…for a journey of goodness and grace, justice and kindness, compassion and care” and Professor Amy Balogh notes “Take Heart is a call…that is rooted in the values of radical empathy and grace that inform every page of this enduring volume.”

Dr. Gossai continues to emphasize the centrality of excellence, collegiality and civility at NOVA and the importance of broadly educating students to be informed, thoughtful and engaged citizens of the world, both near and far.

Submitted by:
Dr. Hemchand, Gossai, AN-Humanities & Social Sciences, HGossai@nvcc.edu