M. F. Alvarez (Ph.D., University of Massachusetts Amherst) is Assistant Professor of Communication. His research examines communication about mental health and end of life in a variety of contexts. He is the author of The Paradox of Suicide and Creativity: Authentications of Human Existence (Lexington Books, 2020), and Unraveling: An Autoethnography of Suicide and Renewal (Routledge, forthcoming). He is also lead author of A Plague for Our Time: Dying and Death in the Age of COVID-19 (McFarland, forthcoming). Dr. Alvarez is currently working on two new book projects: an edited anthology on suicide in popular culture, and a monograph on online communication about suicide. The latter investigates the discursive architecture of online suicide forums, the meanings interactionally created by users, and implications for research, therapeutic practice, and ethical UX design. Dr. Alvarez is a recipient of the Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowship, and the Outstanding Creative Project/Performance Award from the National Communication Association's (NCA) Asian/Pacific American Studies Division. He has previously served on NCA's Mental Health Task Force and is currently on the editorial board of Qualitative Research in Medicine & Healthcare. His writings have been featured in Frontiers in Communication, Omega: Journal of Death & Dying, Mortality, Participations, and other scholarly venues. Dr. Alvarez teaches courses in mental health communication, end of life communication, human communication, and film studies.
