For the “Cultural Competence” section of my capstone portfolio, I chose to include two

works from my Spanish 345 (Cultures of Spain) class taken from Professor Alder. I chose these
artifacts because they are some of my best academic works, and Professor Alder’s rigorous
requirements for each project helped me understand various products and practices of Spanish
culture. These artifacts definitely demonstrate the criteria for this section of my Spanish
portfolio.

According to the portfolio requirements, my Cultural Practices artifact had to

demonstrate an “understanding of one or more cultural practices, with a thoughtful and complete
discussion of how the practices may differ according to factors such as region, social class, and
ethnicity.” One of the examples provided was a presentation on a sporting event from a Spanish-
speaking culture. I decided to upload the slides from a live presentation I gave in class about the
1992 Olympics of Barcelona. For this presentation, Professor Alder left me the following
feedback: “Muy buen trabajo en tu presentación Jayden, gracias. Era muy evidente tu
preparación. Usaste muy eficazmente la imágenes y no había demasiado texto. Encontraste
información muy relevante sobre las Olimpiadas y su importancia para el país… Muchas gracias
por un trabajo bien hecho.”

The main portfolio requirement for the Cultural Products artifact was to demonstrate an
“understanding of a cultural product, with a thoughtful and complete discussion of its historical,
political, and/or social context, and attention given to multiple possible interpretations where
appropriate.” One of the examples provided was a research paper on a work of art from a
Spanish-speaking country. I chose to upload a research paper I did on Pablo Picasso’s Guernica.
For this paper, I provided evidence for how the cultural product of art can be used as a powerful
tool against war. Picasso used this painting, which was arguably his most famous work ever, to
portray the horrors of a small-town bombing in his native Spain. Professor Alder asked his
students to dialogue with peer-reviewed articles in order to develop a thesis on a new idea. We
then used a primary source (in my case, Guernica) to defend the new idea.

I feel that I have developed a lot of knowledge in the area of cultural competence as a
Spanish major at Brigham Young University. However, the most important lesson I learned was
not learned in one class. Rather, it came through various courses that focused on different
countries in the Spanish-speaking world. My classes on Spanish American culture and literature,
as well as other classes on Latin American culture and literature taught me to see each Spanish-
speaking country as unique and individual. Although most Spanish-speaking countries come
from the same roots, each has its own distinct cultural products and practices. I look forward to
continuing to use and develop this knowledge in my career as a mortician. I will be a funeral
director in Utah county, an area with a significant and diverse Spanish-speaking population. My
cultural competence learned at BYU will help me to recognize that the funeral customs of one
Spanish-speaking people are not always the same as the customs of another Spanish-speaking
people. I will also be able to use my knowledge on Hispanic culture to know how to best console
Spanish-speaking families during the trying times of losing a loved one.