Stellenbosch University MPhil in Futures Studies
USB MPhil in Futures Studies
USB’s internationally accredited MPhil in Futures Studies builds on the School’s Postgraduate Diploma in Futures Studies to deepen your understanding of futures concepts and futures tools. As such, it is aimed at anyone who wants to bring about a more desirable future. It is also aimed at turning you into a professional futurist. This qualification will therefore equip decision makers and strategic planners with essential skills to make strategic long-term decisions so that they can deal with rapid and complex changes both locally and internationally. This is the only MPhil degree of its kind in Africa.
What can you do with this qualification?
- Make strategic decisions for the long term: This qualification will equip decision makers and strategic planners with essential skills to make strategic long-term decisions so that they can deal with rapid and complex changes both locally and internationally.
- Deal with change and complexity: This programme will equip decision makers with ways to deal with change and to make the right decisions to at least survive but preferably thrive as a result of change. The programme will also equip you with techniques and methods to react meaningfully to the growing complexity in the organisational environment and world affairs, especially from an African perspective.
- Create a desired future: This programme is aimed at anybody who wants to bring about a more ideal future or a desired future, who is willing to engage in meaningful conversations about the future with like-minded people, and who wants to do so in a way that has a scientific base.
- Develop creativity and professionalism in Futures Studies: The development of creativity and professionalism in the field of Futures Studies is an important overall objective of the programme. Students will be encouraged to develop their own models and practical applications, design protocols and test these in a variety of environments.
- Become a professional futurist: The content of the programme is aligned with the professional and intellectual skills required for futurists. During the programme you will acquire skills such as consultation and facilitation capabilities, project management, stakeholder analysis, environmental scanning, managing the scenario process, designing a futures project, systems simulation, and strategic planning. The research project is regarded as the culmination of the learning experience, offering you the opportunity to apply the knowledge and abilities you have acquired to a specific field of your choice.
Admission requirements
To be eligible for this programme, students must complete and pass USB’s Postgraduate Diploma in Futures Studies with an average of at least 65%. Students must attend the prescribed programme at USB for at least one year. All modules must be passed for the degree to be conferred.