The goal of this course is to develop an understanding of the structure of atoms and molecules, and shed light on how and why they are used in modern AMO research. The course will assume a strong background in graduate-level electromagnetism and topics from Quantum Optics I. Course content: Structure of atoms and molecules. Angular momentum and parity. Selection rules. Multipole moments. Energy level shifts due to electric and magnetic fields. Spontaneous emission. Branching ratios. Cycling transitions and repumps. Laser cooling. Other topics (scattering, diatomic molecules, relativistic atomic physics) depending on student interest.