Institutional Narratives and their Role in Communication of Science and Technology: a Study of Public Science Museums and Centres in India

This dissertation looks at the narrative of science and technology promoted by national level public institutions which work in the field of science communication and public understanding of science. Focus is on India and specifically on the National Council of Science Museums (NCSM hereafter), which is a centrally funded organization under the Ministry of Culture, Government of India. It is in charge of creating a large number of science centres around the country and also managing several of them. The organization has a clearly defined set of goals and objectives, the most prominent one of which is the ࢠpromotion of scientific temperࢠ(a recurring theme dealt with in the chapters), and is in charge of carrying out multiple programmes of public engagement with science, the details of which can be found in the annual activity reports. These constitute a part of the primary literature used in the dissertation. Interviews carried out with highly involved stakeholders (like the NCSM management), field notes gathered during museum visits and other publications of NCSM and contributions of NCSM professionals to academic discourse constitute the other primary sources.