台灣地狹人稠，自然資源極其有限，政府早於民國50年代即開始正視人口問題之嚴重性，並積極推展人口政策之各項措施，而台灣過去50年經歷生育率的下降，而且仍在持續當中。當前又面臨人口急速老化，以及新移民融入與適應等問題，亟待學者專家共同投入了解此趨勢以及所連帶產生的社會現象，研究並謀求對策，尤其是在性別、教育、勞動力、社福、國際遷移與發展等特別予以重視。

Taiwan is now at the end of its population growth curve, stabilized currently at around 23 million people. Like many other mature, developed societies, the island thus faces the specter of future population decline, unless there is significant immigration, with all the consequences, including an aging population and how to care for it, declining work force, changing consumption patterns, and changes in the economy.

This course introduces students to the many subjects that revolve around population and social geography in the cultural contexts in Taiwan. Topics to be examined are: Demographic trend of recent decades, gender issues, emigration to developed regions such as Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and United States, and immigration from Hong Kong SAR, Mainland China and S. E. Asian countries, Through reading current articles in these two eclectic fields of Population and Social Geography, the course hopes to encourage students to carry out research on population and social issues in the future.