Euro-American sociologists have termed he diverse types of romantic love, marriage, and family in the contemporary world as postmodern family or a transformation of intimacy. Similarly, Taiwanese sociologists define this phenomenon as ‘family in changes’. The above terms all points to a fact that intimate relationship, marriage, and family are no longer a fixed object but are ever-changing. In order to explore these changes and to understand the meanings of intimate relationship, marriage, and family in the contemporary world, this course will discuss these issues from the perspectives of sociology, archaeology, and law. The first part of the course will introduce the meanings of intimacy in contemporary Taiwan so that students could learn to communicate in a relationship; the second part of the course proceeds to explore historical changes of marriages around the world as well as in Taiwan; the course ends with the third par on forms of family in contemporary society as well as important issues such as races, generation, and gender. One of the most important part of this course is to discuss these issues through a gender lens so that students could develop a more equal and democratic relationship with their partners.