Maya Stiller

PhD Candidate
Department: Asian Languages and Cultures Anthropology Art History Department
maya.stiller@ucla.edu

Keywords: Asia, Buddhist Studies, China, Cultural anthropology, India, Japan, South Asia, Tibet

Maya Stiller received her dual BA/MA in Korean Studies and Art History at Humboldt-Universität in Berlin. Her dissertation titled Creating One's Place in the World: Imagined and Actual Travels to Mt. Kŭmgang and Their Impact on the Formation of a Korean Proto-national Identity explores the actual and imagined engagement with religious practices at Mt. Kumgang that created a sense of identity within the larger collectivity of Korea. She employs an inter-disciplinary approach that incorporates Religious Studies, History, Literature, Visual Culture, Art History and Geography. She expects this research to make a contribution to discussions about Korean national identity, and to play an important role in introducing a new and interdisciplinary methodology to the study of religions in East Asia and beyond. Recent publications include, "Buddhist Gold Line Painting From the Early Chosŏn Period (1392-1910)," Ostasiatische Zeitschrift, New Series, No. 21 (Spring 2012): 30-39 and "Portraits of Eminent Korean Monks," Arts of Asia, Spring 2012: 124-132. She has a second book manuscript in preparation titled Awakened Masters and Fighting Monks: Monk Portraits and Their Significance for Korean Buddhist Temples.