Moving beyond the focus on personal identity emphasized in German 101-102, German 201 at Emory is the first of the two-course sequence (201-202) that explores how various societal factors have affected German-speaking youths’ coming of age from the 19th century to the contemporary German-speaking world and draws comparisons with comings of age in English language cultures. Within this overarching thematic focus on coming of age, the course examines three sub-themes as they pertain to coming of age: 

• Nature (nature as a hindrance or ally for maturation) 
• Family (conformity to or rebellion against family order) 
• Travel (gaining self-knowledge through travel) 

Through this focus on coming of age in German cultural history, you will build on the foundation established in first-year German and develop further your abilities as readers, writers, and speakers of German. You will use theme-based readings and a grammar review textbook to acquire the language necessary to communicate meaningfully about the topic of coming of age. One of the criteria for choosing the sub-themes for 201-202 was to achieve some overlap with the topics discussed in 101-102. By revisiting some of the same themes, albeit from a different perspective and with a different focus, you should be able to find some familiar ground for developing your language abilities further. 

• explain how your studies, your hobbies, and your families influence your identity; 
• identify and explain how German texts express culture-based value systems about identity formation; 
• compare those value systems to your own view of reality; 
• use technology to enhance your language development; 
• document your language development and demonstrate familiarity with the next steps of your development