Institution: University of Hamburg
Steffen Döll studied Japanology, Sinology, and Religious Studies in Munich and Kyoto. His master’s thesis, published in 2005, was the first monograph on contemporary philosopher Ueda Shizuteru (1926 -2019) to appear in a Western language. His dissertation was published in 2010 and studies the role of Chinese emigrant monks in the transmission of Chan Buddhism to Japan as well as in the subsequent processes of institutionalization during the 13th and 14th centuries. In 2015 he was appointed to the Numata Chair for Japanese Buddhism. He is currently pursuing research projects focusing on the entangled histories of religion and literature in East Asia; the construction of sacred spaces and topographies, for example in the form of Buddhist monastic architecture or landscape narratives; and the question of the function and potency of writing in East Asia.
