Roan Buma

Roan Buma is a Lecturer and research associate at the Department of Communication Science, Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. He holds a Research Master's in Social Sciences for a Digital Society from the same institution and was a visiting scholar at Penn State University's Center for Social Data Analytics. His work focuses on public opinion, political polarization, misinformation, conspiracy theories, and media trust. He teaches courses in communication science across bachelor’s, master’s, and research master’s programs.

Research interests include computational social science applications to political communication, analyzing the spread of misinformation through social media, and the impact of conspiracy beliefs on democratic processes. He has contributed to studies on the restructuring of the Dutch party system and the role of U.S. state legislators in disseminating questionable information.

Buma’s recent publications explore topics such as Dutch electoral realignment, misinformation in legislative communication, and political fragmentation. His interdisciplinary approach combines qualitative and quantitative methods. He also engages in science communication through filmmaking to enhance public understanding of communication science research.