Susan McFarlane-Alvarez

Susan McFarlane-Alvarez

Professor

Department
  • Advertising + Public Relations
mcfar124@msu.edu

Bio

Susan McFarlane-Alvarez, Ph.D. is a Professor in the Department of Advertising and Public Relations at Michigan State University. Her research examines the intersections of identity, images, and corporate expression, exploring how historical, cultural, and ideological forces shape representations in advertising and strategic communication. Her scholarship has appeared in journals including the Journal of Advertising Education, Advertising & Society Review, Howard Journal of Communication, and the Journal of Community Engagement and Scholarship. Her recent work focuses on the interrelatedness of inclusion and sustainability during times of (poly)crisis. With more than three decades of higher education experience, her pedagogical approach connects academic inquiry, professional practice, and community engagement. She also serves as Director of the faculty consortium, Communication Solutions for a Diverse Society, and directs Michigan State University's Public Relations in the United Kingdom study abroad program, where students spend five weeks in London and Edinburgh exploring sustainability and purpose-focused strategic communication in a global context.

Alongside her academic career, McFarlane-Alvarez has worked as a writer, creative director, and strategic communication consultant across North and South America. Her professional experience spans industries including finance, healthcare, manufacturing, tourism, and leadership development. She has partnered with globally recognized organizations that help businesses and executives cultivate more holistic, purpose-driven approaches to leadership and organizational effectiveness. Through both research and practice, she is interested in how communication can foster more inclusive, sustainable, and socially responsive organizations.

Roles

• Professor of Advertising and Public Relations

• Director, Communication Solutions for a Diverse Society

• Director, Study Abroad. Public Relations in the United Kingdom (London and Edinburgh)

• Faculty Advisor, 42PointSEVEN Student Integrated Communication Agency

 

Research and Teaching

Advertising and identity

Moving image representations

Advertising, public relations, and sustainability

Strategic communication, access, and inclusion

 

 

Related Work

Headshots of new faculty: Christina L. Myers, Megh Marathe, Ariana Farhad, Thea Knowles, Susan McFarlane Alvarez, Ed Time, Celeste Campos-Castillo
Seven new faculty bring expertise in DEI research and teaching to top ranked College of Communication Arts and Sciences
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"Different together" | Cover of the new book
MSU Department of Advertising and Public Relations launches new textbook
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Communication Solutions for a Diverse Society (CS4DS) Symposium | The role of communication in advancing access and inclusion
CS4DS hosts first symposium on fostering access and inclusion 
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photos of Lauren Gaines McKenzie, Jada Flowers, and Susan McFarlane-Alvarez on a green background. Text reads: Excellence in DEI, ComArtSci Honorees Shine.
ComArtSci recipients among 2025 Excellence in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Awards
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PIRA Grant ADPR Awardees | Photos of Susan McFarlen-Alvarez and Saleem Alhabash
Advertising and public relations faculty members awarded prestigious PIRA grants
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Two photos of the sustainability events with the text Exploring Ethics and Sustainability Through the Lens of Communication
CS4DS spotlights full scope of sustainability in two recent events
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Photo of Susan McFarlane-Alvarez
Advertising and Public Relations professor leads international workshop on research visibility and academic storytelling
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Selected Publications

McFarlane-Alvarez, S. (2026). Advertising analysis as symbolic activism: What scholars of advertising (and advertisers themselves) can learn from the Smithsonian’s mascots, myths, Monuments, and memory symposium. Advertising & Society Quarterly, 27(2). https://doi.org/10.1353/asr.2026.a996117 

Kononova, A., McFarlane-Alvarez, S., & Mastin, T. (Eds.). (2025). Different Together: Identity, Representation, and Belonging in Advertising and Public Relations. Kendall Hunt. 

McFarlane-Alvarez, S. L., & Norman, M. V. (2023). Racial reckoning, Prosopopeia, and consumer-brand disidentification: Rebranding and the reimaging of Georgia’s Stone Mountain Park. Advertising & Society Quarterly, 24(1). https://doi.org/10.1353/asr.2023.a898065 

Berman, A., Chambers, J. P., Grow, J. M., Loebner, J., McFarlane-Alvarez, S., Shaw, K. M., Thomas, K. D., Tsai, W.-H. S., Vega-Centeno, J. A., & Timke, E. (2023). Different boats, the same storm: A colloquium on implementing DEI in challenging times. Advertising & Society Quarterly, 24(4). https://doi.org/10.1353/asr.2023.a916293 

Norman, M. V., & McFarlane-Alvarez, S. (2023). Beyond colorblindness in advertising education: Multiculturalism and advertising pedagogy since the 2020 racial reckoning. Journal of Advertising Education, 27(2), 91–100. https://doi.org/10.1177/10980482231174885 

McFarlane-Alvarez, S. (2020). Caribbean creativity in the North American classroom: Deploying difference and ingenuity for community-engaged pedagogy. Caribbean Educational Research Journal, 5(1), 68–84. 

McFarlane-Alvarez, S., & McDonald, S. (2020a). Building bridges with Big Brothers Big Sisters: Service-learning links between professional and civic engagement education at a predominantly Black Institution. Journal of Community Engagement and Scholarship, 12(3). https://doi.org/10.54656/gagz7478 

Susan McFarlane-Alvarez / Clayton State University. (2019, September 16). “Go back where you come from!”: Aesthetic Identity, “This land” and “Old town road” Susan McFarlane-Alvarez / Clayton State University. Flow. https://www.flowjournal.org/2019/09/go-back-where-you-came-from/ 

McFarlane-Alvarez, S. (2015). Bim and Joebell: Filmic representations of colonial and postcolonial Caribbean identity. In Contemporary Caribbean dynamics: Re-configuring Caribbean culture. essay, Ian Randle Publishers. 

McFarlane-Alvarez, S. (2014). Human billboarding: Peopled publicity and a new space of “Agency” in advertising. Advertising & Society Review, 15(1). https://doi.org/10.1353/asr.2014.0009 

McFarlane-Alvarez, S. L. (2007). Trinidad and Tobago Television Advertising as third space: Hybridity as resistance in the Caribbean Mediascape. Howard Journal of Communications, 18(1), 39–55. https://doi.org/10.1080/10646170601147457 

McFarlane-Alvarez, S. (2005). Documentary film: West Indies and Caribbean. In The encyclopedia of documentary film. essay, Routledge. 

McFarlane-Alvarez, S. (2004). The quest for National Identity and Visual Sovereignty in Trinidad and Tobago Television Advertising. Advertising & Society Review, 5(3). https://doi.org/10.1353/asr.2004.0011 

Contact Information

Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI 48824