The Korea Institute is pleased to announce the Soon Young Kim Postdoctoral Fellow in Korean Studies for academic year 2015-16: Dr. Maya Stiller.
Dr. Maya Stiller is currently assistant professor of Korean art and visual culture at the University of Kansas. Following several years of research in Korea and Japan, she earned a doctoral degree in Korean Art History from Free University Berlin in 2008, and a Ph.D. in Asian Languages & Cultures (focus: Korean Buddhism) from UCLA in 2014. Through a combination of methodological approaches from Art History, Sociology and Religious Studies, Dr. Stiller explores visual interpretations of Buddhist faith and practice; tensions between Buddhist patronage and social identity in Chosŏn period Korea; and local interactions between Buddhist and Confucian cultures. Her research projects have received support from the Korea Foundation, the Academy of Korean Studies and the Kyujanggak Institute for Korean Studies at Seoul National University.
Presently, Dr. Stiller is conducting two discrete research projects. The first project is a case study of the multi-faceted religious landscape of Kŭmgangsan that was populated by Buddhist monks and Daoist fairies, Confucian shrines and shamanic sites. The second project focuses on the regional Buddhist cultures of Kyŏngsang Province, examining the contexts, motivations and implications of patronage for local monastic communities. Dr. Stiller teaches courses in Korean art and culture spanning a wide range of topics including Buddhist painting, Korean ceramics as well as post-colonial discourses on Korean cultural heritage and urban planning. Emphasizing specific problems, current research questions, and the critical assessment of primary and secondary sources, Dr. Stiller's classes are designed to engage students using Korean artifacts from local museum collections.