MSC Science Communication
As the Origins Centre continues to evolve, we are committed to establishing the museum as a leading centre for research, scholarship, and public engagement.
MSc Science Communication Curriculum
The MSc Science Communication at the University of the Witwatersrand is an interdisciplinary, research-led programme that prepares students to engage critically and creatively with the relationships between science and society. Rooted in the Origins Centre and the Faculty of Science, the curriculum combines science communication theory with practical inquiry through museums, environmental communication, heritage, storytelling, public engagement, participatory practice and creative methodologies. Students work across disciplinary boundaries with scientists, humanities scholars, artists and practitioners, developing advanced research skills alongside communication practice. Throughout the programme, communication is understood not simply as the dissemination of scientific knowledge, but as a relational process through which trust, meaning, dialogue and shared futures are negotiated. Particular attention is given to southern ethics, critical reflection, epistemic justice, narrative, audience-centred practice and the development of science communicators who are capable of working ethically and professionally within complex science–society contexts.
The Thick Time Lab
The Thick Time Lab is the research and project platform that extends the curriculum into an active programme of scholarship, experimentation and public engagement at the Origins Centre. It provides the intellectual and practical space in which postgraduate research, collaborative projects, exhibitions, residencies and science communication initiatives are developed. Drawing together archaeology, environmental sciences, museology, creative practice and science communication, the Lab investigates how deep-time knowledge can contribute to meaningful engagement with contemporary challenges and future imaginaries. It explores science communication as a mode of inquiry that attends to where communication succeeds, where it becomes difficult, and how more relational, participatory and plural forms of engagement can strengthen trust in science while remaining grounded in rigorous scientific research. Through partnerships across the University and with national and international collaborators, the Thick Time Lab positions the Origins Centre as a research hub for innovative science communication emerging from the Global South.
Follow the link below for more information on the MSC Science Communication program:
/course-finder/postgraduate/science/msc-science-communication/