Christian Raffensperger is an associate professor at Wittenberg University. He obtained his B.A. from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine, and his M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Chicago. His first book, released by Harvard University Press, won the Ohio Academy of History Publication Award in 2013 and is titled, Reimagining Europe: Kievan Rus’ in the Medieval World, 988–1146. It deals with the relationship of Rus’ (the medieval kingdom that will become Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus) to the rest of Europe. It specifically focuses on the dynastic marriages made between the ruling family of Rus’, the Volodimerovichi, and the other ruling families of Europe. These marriages formed a web of connections that tied Rus’ firmly into the fabric of Europe during this period. Those marital connections are the subject of his second book entitled, Ties of Kinship: Genealogy and Dynastic Marriage in Kyivan Rus' (Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute, 2016) which also provides a complete genealogy for the Volodimerovichi through the mid–twelfth century (this project has a parallel digital humanities component which can be viewed at genealogy.obdurodon.org). This project has generated recent interest, due to the political situation in modern Ukraine and Ties of Kinship was part of Dr. Raffensperger's editorial at the Washington Post, as well as the subject of an article by the Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute.

While working on his manuscript Ties of Kinship: Genealogy and Dynastic Marriage in Kyivan Rus’  (published by HURI), Raffensperger developed the Rus’ Genealogy module, which depicts the connections formed between Kyivan Rus’ and medieval Europe through dynastic marriage.