Ralf Futselaar

Ralf Futselaar is an Endowed Professor at the Department of History, Erasmus School of History, Culture and Communication, Erasmus University Rotterdam. His work bridges traditional historical scholarship with innovative digital methods, particularly in analyzing political and social discourses.

His research interests center on Dutch political and social history, with a focus on emotionality in public life, parliamentary debates on moral issues, and the historical treatment of war crimes. He employs digital humanities tools such as word embeddings to explore semantic shifts in political language over time.

• Emotionality in Dutch politics and media (1945–1989)
• Representation of evil and war crimes in parliamentary discourse
• Colonial and post-WWI European history, especially African soldiers in Europe
• Humanitarian history and hunger relief
• Prison administration during the German occupation of the Netherlands

His recent publications reveal a strong trend in applying computational text analysis to historical questions, particularly in understanding moral and emotional language in political debates. This reflects a broader shift toward digital methods in historical research.

Ralf Futselaar has collaborated with scholars such as M. van Lange and D. van Galen Last. His work has been cited in Scopus and accessed through academic repositories, indicating scholarly engagement. While no formal list of advisees or awards is provided, his publications appear in peer-reviewed journals and as academic books, reflecting active research contributions.