Daigengna Duoer (pronounced “dye-gain-na” “door”) is a historian of Buddhism in early 20th-century Inner Mongolia and Manchuria. She examines issues of modernity, colonialism, and secularity in Buddhism. Her current research projects trace transnational networks of Buddhist and non-Buddhist agents in early 20th-century Inner and East Asia.
Daigengna Duoer is currently a Ph.D. student in the Religious Studies Department at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Daigengna Duoer is interested in religion, specifically Buddhism in twentieth-century Inner Mongolia and Manchuria. She studies transnational networks of Buddhism in modern East Asia and looks at Buddhism amongst other religions such as shamanism, Shinto, Islam, and Christianity in Inner Mongolia, Manchuria/Manchukuo, the Republic of China (1912-1949), and Tibet. Her work aims to create conversations about Buddhism and modernity, both about how Buddhism was regulated under different political rules and secular law and about how various agencies on the ground have experienced them.
Daigengna works with Chinese, Japanese, Tibetan, Mongolian, and French sources.
She completed her B.A. in Buddhist Studies and Art History and M.A. in Buddhist Studies at the University of Toronto.
Daigengna is also a host for the New Books in East Asia Studies Podcast, a channel on the New Books Network.