Lucy MSP Burns is an associate professor in the Asian American Studies Department at UCLA, the author of Puro Arte: Filipinos on the Stages of Empire (NYU, 2012), co-editor of California Dreaming: Movement, Place, and Asian American Imaginaries (University of Hawai’i Press, 2020). Burns’ writings are published in numerous academic journals, including the Dance Research Journal, Women and Performance, Alon Journal for Filipinx American and Diasporic Studies. 

Burns is among the co-designers and co-authors of Impact of COVID-19 Closures on Black, Indigenous, and People of Color Theatre Practitioners (BIPOC) and Black, Indigenous, and Theatres of Color (BITOC). With Neferti X Tadiar, Burns co-directs the Puón Institute at the Alfredo F. Tadiar Library in San Fernando, La Union, Philippines.

As a dramaturg, Burns has worked on multi-disciplinary dance, theater, and performance projects with artists such as David Rousseve, Priya Srinivasan, R. Zamora Linmark, and Leilani Chan/TeAda Productions. Recently, Burns served as one of the dramaturg/creative advisors for the 2024 CAATA Conference and Festival’s new 10-minute play program.