Professor Arlene Holmes-Henderson is an expert in rhetoric, citizenship and public policy. Her research crosses disciplinary boundaries to explore the role of speech education in improving democratic deliberation. She leads UK-based projects funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council and the British Academy on young people’s voice, social mobility and employability. A graduate of Oxford, Harvard and Cambridge, Professor Holmes-Henderson has held Visiting Professorships in the USA as a Fulbright Scholar, New Zealand as an Erskine Scholar and in Australia as a Churchill Fellow. She regularly advises governments and parliaments on Humanities Education and Public Policy. In 2023, she was awarded an MBE for Services to Education by King Charles III.