MSc Science and Health Communication

This course is an introduction to science communication in, and hosted by, museums and science centres, also covering some more general aspects of public events management and the practicalities of related careers. The aim of this unit overall is to prepare students for an entry level position in a science museum or science centre, or in public events management and delivery, and to give insights into these areas that would be part of the professional toolkit of an outreach officer, schoolteacher or scientist. Central to the course are sessions with invited guest professionals from museum and science centres, evaluation experts, and freelance science communicators working in a range of fields.

The sequence of classes and the exact coverage will vary slightly depending on guest availability, but is likely to include the following:

• Museum exhibitions and display controversies
• Audiences and evaluation
• Objects and authenticity
• Science centres and working with young audiences
• Freelancing, networking, events and media 

Students will be registered in parallel for credit on the co-requisite units noted and will be attending day schools for all.  

The aim of this unit overall is to prepare students for an entry-level position in a science museum or science centre, or in public events management and delivery, and to give insights into these areas that would be part of the professional toolkit of an outreach officer, school teacher or scientist. To achieve this, the units aims to:

• develop your understanding of the history of science centres and museums covering STEM, medicine and healthcare, together with associated public events.
• enhance your critical engagement with contemporary science museums.
• identify and illuminate roles, professions, modes of collection and display and visitor experiences in museums and science centres.
• enhance your judgement of the potential for museum exhibitions and galleries.
• develop your skills at producing exhibitions and other media for museums.
• enhance your understanding of museums and science centres as institutions.
• develop your awareness in areas of regulation and good conduct in public institutions, including health and safety, risk assessment, equality and diversity, and social responsibility.

This unit is built around a core of face-to-face classroom sessions, supported by study resources including recent and historical published scholarship, examples of broadcast media, and independent visits to relevant museums and science centres. Each classroom session runs for four hours with breaks and will include a range of learning approaches including traditional lecture, group problem-solving activities, and whole-class discussion. A key feature of this unit is that most of the sessions feature guest contributions from professionals in relevant fields, including science centre management, freelance STEM communication, museum curatorship, and audience research. Guest presenters will give a practical overview of their work, present their own views on the debates in the scholarly literature, and take questions from the students.

Online resources will be provided via Canvas and/or other LMS platform(s) as appropriate. All coursework submission and return of feedback will be online.

• Understand what makes topics and objects suitable for museum display, science centre interactives or public events
• Recognise the differing forms and media of display, and understand their use, strengths and weaknesses
• Demonstrate competence in proposing and developing ideas for exhibitions, interactives and events
• Show a grasp of current trends in the museums sector and of significant events and products, and have the skills to keep up to date
• Appreciate the value of planning and scheduling, and be able to implement these
• Identify appropriate opportunities for exhibitions, and know how to engage with them professionally
• Acknowledge the laws, conventions, ethics and etiquettes relevant to science museums, science centres and public events
   

• Recognise and deploy as appropriate the theories, disciplines and principles that inform museum practices
• Identify and frame potentially fruitful topics for display, and select appropriate styles, genres and outlets for communicating them
• Explain the rationale for and potential outcomes of your proposals
• Research potential topics responsibly, and with due regard for schedules
• Engage critically with museums, science centres and public events
• Develop an appreciation of the prospects for science communication in this sector
• See the ‘big’ picture of STEMM museums and events in the contemporary context as well as in historical perspective.
   

• Plan, schedule, cost and audit a museum project or public event
• Write/design for genre and medium, and to time
• Seek out, organise and manage research materials, sites and subjects
• Conduct interviews
• Engage with regulatory and institutional constraints
• Work independently when appropriate
• Work effectively in a team, leading or following when appropriate, and contributing and listening.

• Communicate with a range of professionals at all levels
• Engage with different degrees of planning, from the immediate to the long-term
• Act responsibly as a citizen, colleague, budget-holder, time-keeper
• Recognise and plan for the needs of work-life balance
• Ask for, and give, help as appropriate

Essay on a historical or contemporary issue in museum studies, audience engagement, audience evaluation, or STEM engagement policy in public venues (2000 words): 50%

Practical proposal, prototype or pilot activity description for an exhibition, science centre interactive or event (up to 2000 words, as appropriate to the medium chosen): 50%
 

Specific and general comments will be provided via Canvas within the standard turnaround time.

Indicative Reading List

•    Sharon Macdonald and Helen Rees Leahy, eds. 2015. The International Handbooks of Museum Studies (4 volumes). Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell
•    Emily Dawson, Equity, Exclusion and Everyday Science Learning: the Experiences of Minoritised Groups (Abingdon, Oxon; New York, NY: Abingdon, Oxon; New York, NY: Routledge, 2019)
•    Eilean Hooper-Greenhill, Museums and Their Visitors (London; New York: London; New York: Routledge, 1994)
•    Sharon Macdonald, Behind the Scenes at the Science Museum (Oxford: Berg, 2002)
•    Susan Pearce, ed., Interpreting Objects and Collections (London; New York: London; New York: Routledge, 1994)
•    Dan Hicks, The Brutish Museums: The Benin Bronzes, Colonial Violence and Cultural Restitution (London: Pluto Press, 2020)
•    Robert Post, “A Narrative for Our Time: The Enola Gay ‘And after That, Period,’” Technology and Culture, 45.2 (2004), 373–95
•    Catherine Nash, “Making Kinship with Human Remains: Repatriation, Biomedicine and the Many Relations of Charles Byrne,” Environment and Planning D: Society & Space, 36.5 (2018), 867–84
•    Raphael Samuel, Theatres of Memory: Past and Present in Contemporary Culture (London; New York: London; New York: Verso, 2012)
•    Cara Ocobock and Patricia Hawley, “Science on Tap: Effective Public Engagement or Preaching to the Choir?,” Journal of Science Communication, 19.1 (2020)
•    K C Cole, Something Incredibly Wonderful Happens: Frank Oppenheimer and His Astonishing Exploratorium (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2012)
•    Richard Toon, “Science Centres: a Museum Studies Approach to Their Development and Possible Future Direction,” in Museum Revolutions: How Museums Change and Are Changed , ed. by Simon J. Knell, Suzanne. Macleod, and Sheila E. R. Watson (Routledge, 2007), pp. 105–12
•    Laura Fogg-Rogers et al., “Science Live — Articulating the Aims and Ethos of Science Event Practitioners in the U.S.A. and UK,” Journal of Science Communication, 18.4 (2019), 1–17
•    Eric Jensen and Nicola Buckley, “Why People Attend Science Festivals: Interests, Motivations and Self-Reported Benefits of Public Engagement with Research,” Public Understanding of Science (Bristol, England), 23.5 (2014), 557–73
•    Karen Bultitude, “Science festivals: do they succeed in reaching beyond the ‘already engaged’?,” Journal of Science Communication, 13.4 (2014)

For Information and advice on Link2Lists reading list software, see: 
http://www.library.manchester.ac.uk/academicsupport/informationandadviceonlink2listsreadinglistsoftware/

Study hours:

24 contact hours are made up of, e.g., Lectures; Tutorials; Seminars; Workshops; Revision workshops/surgeries; Online discussions/tutorials; Meetings with Academic Advisers; Field trips, etc.
 

Unit Availability:

The unit is taken mainly by students on MSc Science and Health Communication, but welcomes students from other programmes. Potential students are advised to get in touch with the unit co-ordinators in advance to discuss whether it will meet their aims.