- Email:
- pending
- Campus:
- IU Bloomington
Born to a Lithuanian family in a predominantly Lithuanian immigrant community in Chicago, Jura Avizienis grew up speaking both Lithuanian and English. Fascinated with language, she earned a BA in Linguistics at the University of Chicago (1986), where she also studied French and Spanish. As a high school student and later as an undergrad, she attended summer courses on Lithuanian language and culture at Vilnius University (1981, 1985) and Kent State University (1983, 1984). Her Master’s Degree is in Lithuanian Literature from the University of Illinois at Chicago. While a doctoral student at University of Washington (Comparative Literature, ABD), she began teaching Lithuanian as a TA and through BALSSI (Baltic Languages Summer Institute (1995-1999, 2019-present). She has taught English literature at the University of Southern Maine (2003-2008) and writing and courses on The Great Books at Boston University (2008-2019). Since COVID, she has been teaching Lithuanian at the Indiana University Summer Language Workshop where the BALSSI summer institute now resides. Jura is an internationally recognized literary translator from Lithuanian to English and has published numerous books and essays.