Culture and Literature Artifacts
SPAN 350
The Three Cultures of Spanish Gastronomy
For my Food and Culture in Spain course, taken in Seville, Spain, I wrote an essay about the significant influences of Judaism, Islam, and Christianity on the gastronomy of Spain. The goal of this paper was to analyze the fusion of religious laws regarding food while developing my spanish language skills. Through this paper, I explore the development of Spanish cuisine from the original “mediterranean triad” to the addition of spices and the reintroduction of the famous jamon iberico. One challenge while writing this paper was articulating historical influences clearly, but organizing my thoughts in Spanish strengthened my writing fluency and cultural understanding. As a future speech language pathologist, this assignment helped improve my ability to understand spanish and a variety of cultures, which will help facilitate meaningful relationships with clients and provide them with the highest quality intervention.
SPAN 3130
Interpretive Essay: "El Amor, La Causa de la Muerte en El Caballero de Olmedo"
In this essay, written for Survey of Spanish Literature, I explore the themes of the Spanish classic, La Fuerza del Amor, and show how the work is still relevant in today’s society by comparing the values of 17th century Spain with those of the current day United States and noting the many similarities. This analysis enhanced my ability to connect the past and present, as well as understand how cultural values can influence behaviors despite an individual's personal beliefs. As someone looking to go into Speech Language Pathology, bringing this understanding into the professional world will allow me to personalize interactions, build trusting relationships with clients, and provide the most effective interventions to each individual.
SPAN 350
The Gastronomy of Navarra
In this oral presentation, I dove into the rich history of one of Spain’s 17 autonomous regions: Navarra. Highly influenced by location and topography, Navarra is home to various unique traditions, festivals, and gastronomy that I was able to elaborate on with these slides as a visual aide. Through this presentation, I was able to gain insight about how the history, traditions, and gastronomy of Navarra have influenced each other over time. This assignment gave me a greater understanding of how culture can vary greatly within a single region, instilling the importance of being able to embrace other cultures. In the future, I will use the clear communication and language skills I gained from presenting this artifact to the class to effectively communicate with the clients or students I will work with.