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Organisational and Institutional Studies

A multidisciplinary approach to the study of the state and civil society

Organisational and Institutional Studies was started in 2018 as an experimental programme in the School of Social Sciences at the University of the Witwatersrand, coordinated by the Public Affairs Research Institute.

The programme, offered at a postgraduate level, was designed to advance the study of institutions and organisations within the realm of state-society relations in South Africa, the region and globally.

The curriculum offered theoretical, empirical and methodological tools to unpack different ways to understand organisations and institutions of government and adopted a multidisciplinary approach to the study of the state and civil society. Students that graduated worked on the relationship between NGOs and the state, the relationship between public and private institutions, policy making and local government.

From 2022, the programme is no longer accepting new cohorts of students. It rather focuses on working with the current students, providing ongoing mentoring and assistance. In this vein, in 2022 the OIS programme will work in partnership with the History Department of the University College of London.

To find out more about the programme and its research, please listen to the OIS podcasts: HERE.