Mila Burns

Academic Interests

History of Latin America and the Caribbean
Authoritarianism
Gender Studies
Journalism

Research

Professor Mila Burns is currently working on a book about the Brazilian influence on the Chilean 1973 coup d'état. Based on recently declassified documents from Brazilian and Chilean archives, it looks at how the Brazilian government, diplomats, and exiles perceived Salvador Allende's "road to socialism" and acted to impact it.

Her most recent book, Dona Ivone Lara's Sorriso Negro (Bloombsbury Academic, 2019 and Editora Cobogó, 2021), investigates Dona Ivone Lara's album to address broader questions about feminist and black movements in the early 1980s Brazil. At the time, the country's long-lasting dictatorship was coming to an end and the Brazilian samba composer, a black woman, called for change in her lyrics.

Professor Burns's interdisciplinary profile influences her research, with an emphasis on media, anthropology, and history. For almost two decades, she has been a prominent journalist in Brazil and New York. She is currently the anchor and editor-in-chief of America News, a newscast dedicated to the Latino community broadcast at TV Globo International.

Books

Dona Ivone Lara – Sorriso Negro. Rio de Janeiro: Editora Cobogó, 2021
Sorriso Negro. New York: Bloomsbury Academic, 2019.
Nasci Para Sonhar e Cantar. Dona Ivone Lara: a Mulher no Samba. Rio de Janeiro: Ed. Record,
2009.

Selected Publications

“Resistência pela existência: Dona Ivone Lara, Sorriso Negro e ativismos nos últimos anos da ditadura brasileira,” The Latin Americanist. March 2020.
“Ditadura tipo exportação: a diplomacia brasileira e a queda de Salvador Allende,” Revista História e Cultura, Universidade Estadual Paulista, UNESP. December 2017.
“El Modelo Brasileño: la Influencia de Roberto Campos y Câmara Canto en la Dictadura Chilena,” Nuevo Mundo, Mundos Nuevos [Online], Debates. October 2016.
“Dictatorship Across Borders: The Brazilian Influence on the Overthrow of Salvador Allende,”Revista Estudios de Seguridad y Defensa, Departamento de Investigación de la Academia Nacional de Estudios Políticos y Estratégicos de Chile, Number 3, July, 2014: 165-187.
“A dona da voz e a voz da dona: a trajetória de Dona Ivone Lara” in: Velho, Gilberto (org.), Rio de Janeiro: cultura, política e conflito. Rio de Janeiro: Jorge Zahar Editor, 2007: 108-127.