Article by Melinda Eddleman Expanding perspectives is part of life-long learning, and the Del Mar College (DMC) Cultural Programs Committee (CPC) is dedicated to offering events featuring artists, authors, lecturers and musicians from other parts of the country to the campus and area communities as part of cultural learning experiences. Made up of faculty and other departmental representatives, the committee organizes several events during the year, including two over the next two weeks––a Fall Art Talk on Oct. 2 and a Literary Reading on Oct. 9. Cultural Programs Committee-sponsored events are free and open to the public. These offerings are scheduled in different facilities on the Heritage Campus located at 101 Baldwin Blvd. (78404). Access online directions and the Heritage Campus campus map. Ceramic artist and educator William McKinney will present a Fall Art Talk in Richardson Performance Hall on Thursday, Oct. 2, beginning at 11 a.m. Presented by the CPC and the Art Program with the Art and Drama Department, the West Virginia Morgantown-born artist explores the intersection of industry, nature and environmental action. McKinney’s sculptural work reflects the environmental impact of coal and gas industries on Appalachia’s landscapes, serving as both a critique and a call to action. An Assistant Professor of Art and Ceramics and the Gallery Director at Truman State University in Kirksville, Mo., McKinney uses stoneware, colored porcelain slip and wood firing techniques to create forms that embody the tension between natural forces and human intervention, often incorporating multiple firings and Egyptian paste to enhance surface depth and complexity of his work. McKinney earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from West Virginia University in 2016 and completed his Master of Fine Arts degree at The University of Mississippi in 2019. He has served as a Resident Artist at the Cobb Mountain Art and Ecology Project in Lake County, Ca., and as an Adjunct Professor at Mendocino College. From 2022 to 2024, he was the John Hirschi Family Ceramic Resident Artist at Midwestern State University. He has exhibited both nationally and internationally at venues such as Mesa Contemporary Arts Museum (Mesa, Ariz.), Dallas College (Irving, Tx.), Miaobei Art Center (Miaoli County, Taiwan), Taoxichuan Ceramic Art Avenue (Jingdezhen, China) and The Pottery Workshop (Jingdezhen, China). To learn more about McKinney and view his work, visit his website. Questions related to the Oct. 2 Fall Art Talk may be directed to the DMC Art Office at 361-698-1216 or art@delmsr.edu. Online seating registration is requested on the DMC web page for this event. On Thursday, Oct. 9, the committee and the Department of English and Philosophy will host memoirist and author Jody Keisner for a Literary Reading beginning at 11 a.m. in the Reading Lab (Room 119) in the Coles Building.  One reviewer, author Sue William Silverman, describes Keisner’s book, Under My Bed and Other Essays (2022), as an exploration of “our aversion to scary things, as well as the emotional, physical, cultural and psychological allure of fear. Keisner examines everything from horror movies to giving birth—and does it fearlessly.” You can explore Keisner’s writing further during her reading on the Heritage Camus. Keisner––a writer, teacher, mother, first-generation college graduate and ex-waitress––has had essays appear in the Los Angeles Review of Books, Fourth Genre, Cimarron Review, Post Road, Brevity, VIDA Review, So to Speak, Brain, Child, Assay, Threepenny Review, Hunger Mountain, The Rumpus, The Normal School, Adroit Journal, Literary Mama, Hippocampus, Essay Daily, Women’s Studies, and many other literary journals and magazines. Her essay “Runaway Mother” is a notable Best American Essay 2022. Keisner serves as the Editor-in-Chief of The Linden Review, a journal of creative nonfiction focused on health. The graduate of Wayne State University (Bachelor of Arts), University of Nebraska-Omaha (Master of Arts) and Western Michigan University (Master of Fine Arts) is a Professor at the University of Nebraska-Omaha, where she teaches creative nonfiction. You can learn more about Keisner on her website at www.jodykeisner.com/. Questions about the Oct. 9 reading may be directed to Assistant Professor of English Sarah Lenz at 361-698-1453 or slenz2@delmar.edu. If you have some free time the next couple of Thursdays or maybe want to take an early lunch, mark your calendar for Oct. 2 and 9 to join DMC Cultural Programs Committee and departmental event organizers for two thought-provoking presentations that offer a different learning experience.  

Article by Richard Guerrero, Jr. The American Space Program and how it relates to gender culture is the subject of a free public book talk at Del Mar College (DMC) by Dr. Erinn McComb, History Professor with the college’s Social Sciences Department, who will discuss her debut book, “Gender and the Race for Space: Masculinity and the American Astronaut” (1957-1983). The free lecture begins at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 24, in Wolfe Recital Hall on Heritage Campus, 101 Baldwin Blvd. (78404), online directions and campus map. This event is free and open to the public.  For more information, contact Dr. Paul Gottemoller, DMC Chair of the Social Sciences Department, at pgottemo@delmar.edu or at 361-698-1698. Released in June by Anthem Press, Dr. McComb’s book draws from years of research and rich archival interviews, especially those conducted by Dr. Jennifer Ross-Nazzal, formerly of the Johnson Space Center. Ross-Nazzal conducted dozens of interviews with former NASA employees, including the first six female astronauts.  Dr. McComb’s book explores how masculinity shaped American spaceflight during the Cold War, particularly in NASA’s early astronaut selection process and public image. Her presentation will dive into how American gender culture influenced which individuals were deemed fit for space — and which were left grounded. Based on her doctoral dissertation, the book took nearly five years to complete and weaves together historical testimony, including the voices of early female astronauts — most notably, Dr. Sally K. Ride — and aerospace engineers navigating a male-dominated field. Dr. McComb also discusses competing narratives heading into the shuttle era––one that championed women’s capabilities, and another that diminished them by suggesting the shuttle was “so safe, even a woman could fly it.” In her book, Dr. McComb argues the American astronaut image was informed by early Cold War ideals of masculinity that helped mold a distinctly American (anti-communist) masculinity, which appeared — on the surface anyway — to resolve not only an American “crisis of masculinity” but helped win the Cold War on an ideological and popular level. At the heart of the talk scheduled Sept. 24 is a powerful message: “Gender culture has always shaped opportunities,” Dr. McComb notes. “Often, even if legal barriers weren’t in the way, people shied away from doing what they really wanted because of fears of social ridicule. The stories of the men and women in the book demonstrate that we as individuals should do it anyway. These individuals reached their potential and their individual fulfillment despite barriers, social ridicule or fear.” While books will not be available for purchase at the event, copies of ‘Gender and the Race for Space’ are available online on Amazon and Barnes & Noble websites and will be housed in the Del Mar College White Library on the Heritage Campus for public access.