Ieva Balčiūnė

PhD Humanities

PhD, Research fellow

Ieva Balčiūnė born in 1992 in Klaipėda, graduated from the Vilnius Juozas Tallat-Kelpša Music Conservatory, and in 2011 enrolled in the Faculty of History at Vilnius University, where she completed a Bachelor's degree in cultural history and anthropology, and a Master's degree in history. In 2016 she was an intern at Lithuanian Research and Studies Center (Chicago, Il, USA) and Cosulat General of the Republic of Lithuania in Chicago (USA). In 2017-2022 she was a PhD student at the Lithuanian History Institute and Vilnius University Faculty of History. In 2022 Ieva Balčiūnė defended her dissertation "Abandonment  of children in Soviet Lithuania: Parents, Unwanted Children and the State".

Ieva Balčiūnė has held internships and gave public lectures and seminars at the Miami University (USA), Maynooth University (IE), Uppsala University (SE). Since 2022, she is an assist. Prof. at the Faculty of Philology, Vilnius University, and a co-organiser of the International Seminar Series on Gender Studies.

Since 2023, Ieva is a research fellow at the Lithuanian Institute of History, and a co-founder of Family, Women and Children History reaserch network, also a co-organizer of international seminar series (Together with Dr. Andrea Griffante).

In 2022 and 2023, Ieva was the recipient of AABS and ASEEES grants.

Main areas of research:

• Social and Cultural History of the 20th Century
• History of Soviet Lithuania
• Women's history
• Children's history

Ieva Balčiūnė is a participant of international European Union research projects:

• Horizon 2020 - Mothernet.
• COST Action - EuroHealthHist.
• COST action - Democratization at stake? Comparing Anti-Gender Politics in CEE and NME countries (Antigender-Politics)

Membership in scientific associations:

• AABS
• AWSS
• BASEES
• ASEEES

Monographs:

• Balčiūnė, I. “Augintiniai: atsikratymas vaikais sovietmečio Lietuvoje”, Aukso žuvys, 2024

Other publications:

• Balčiūnė, I. “Adolescence and the Family in Soviet Lithuanian Public Discourse”, Studia Historica Septentrionalia, Pohjois-Suomen Historiallinen Yhdistys, (Forthcoming)
• Balčiūnė, I. (2026) “Visiting Medical Staff in Soviet Lithuania: Between Duties To the Regime and Women’s Needs”, Women’s History Review, DOI:1080/09612025.2026.2650009 (OnlineFirst)
• Balčiūnė, I. (2026) “Domestic Violence and Abortion: The Case of Soviet Lithuania”, Journal of Family History, 51(2), 152-168. DOI: 1177/03631990251371978
• Balčiūnė, I. (2025) “A Woman With a Pillow on Her Belly: Semi-legal Adoption practices in Soviet Lithuania”, Social History, 50(2). DOI: 10.1080/0371022.2025.2466335
• Balčiūnė, I. (2025) “Sovietization of Women in Lithuania: Representations of Motherhood and Family Planning in the Magazine Tarybine moteris(1952-1989)”, in: Heidi Hein-Kircher, Denisa Nestakova, Elisa-Maria Hiemer (eds.), Challenging Norms: Family Planning as a Reflection of Social Change in 20th Century Eastern Europe, Berghahn books.
• Preparation of the electronic document collection "Women and Families in Eastern Europe since 1945", Herder Institute for Historical Research on East Central Europe, Marburg, Germany for the project "Dokumente und Materialien zur ostmitteleuropäischen Geschichte", 2023
• Balčiūnė, I. (2021 ) “Neprižiūrimų ir beglobių nepilnamečių problema ir jos sprendimas 1944-1954 metais Lietuvoje”, Lietuvos istorijos studijos, t. 47, pp. 82-98. DOI: 15388/LIS.2021.47.4.
• Balčiūnė, I. (2020) “Abortions in Soviet Lithuania 1955-1990: Social Context and Everyday Practices”, Lituanus: The Lithuanian Quarterly, pp. 5-25

Contacts

E-mail: Ieva.balciune@istorija.lt

ORCID: 0000-0001-7539-2940