R.O. Lutkenhaus (Roel)

Dr. Roel Lutkenhaus is an assistant professor in media and communication at the department of communication science. Roel’s work revolves around the transformative power of entertainment media and popular culture and focuses on (1) mapping societal undercurrents in digital media networks; (2) designing, monitoring, and evaluating online media interventions for social and behavioural change; and (3) leveraging participatory approaches in intervention design and research.

Roel obtained his PhD with honours in 2020 on the Entertainment-Education (EE) strategy in the new media landscape. He used digital research methods to map online communities of target audiences in the digital media landscape and advocated innovative collaborations with content creators to reach audiences that had moved beyond the grasp of traditional mass media. These approaches were piloted for the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, the Dutch DNA Dialogue, and the Indian edutainment initiative 'Main Kuch Bhi Kar Sakti Hoon 3' (I - a woman - can achieve anything).

Roel holds a master’s in communication studies (University of Twente, 2011), a bachelor's in applied arts and technology (Saxion University of Applied Science, 2007), and worked for 10+ years in journalism, IT, and marketing – pioneering with data-driven content strategy – before starting his PhD.