These notes originated from a series of lectures I delivered at the Centre for Mathematical Analysis at Canberra. The purpose of the lectures was to introduce mathematicians familiar with the basic notions and results of linear elliptic partial differential equations and Riemannian geometry to the subject of harmonic mappings. I selected some topics to the presentation of which I felt I could contribute something, while on the other hand it was possible to provide complete and detailed proofs of them during these lectures. Thus, these notes are not meant to cover all that is known about harmonic maps, but nevertheless I believe that they give a good account of many of the interesting aspects of the subject and a fair idea of the variety of techniques used in the field.