Speaking Citizens is a research project that aims to broaden understanding of the educational concept of ‘oracy’.

Since 2020 the project has brought together social scientists, humanities researchers, policymakers and educators to ask difficult questions about the role of speaking and listening in schools and society.

On this site you can find links to our findings, our series of educational resources, sessions from our major Uses of Oracy conference and an archive of blogs from leading experts and practitioners.

The project is run from the University of Sussex by cultural historian Tom F. Wright, who introduces the project’s aims in this video.

The original project team comprised of Arlene Holmes-Henderson (Classics, Durham), Stephen Coleman (Politics, Leeds), Hester Barron (History, Sussex) and Stuart Dunmore (Linguistics, Edinburgh).

Speaking Citizens has been funded by grants from the Arts and Humanities Research Council, the Economic and Social Research Council, and the University of Sussex.