Michael Ing

Michael Ing is Professor of Religious Studies at Indiana University Bloomington's College of Arts and Sciences, with courtesy appointments in Philosophy and East Asian Languages & Cultures. He serves as Director of the Native American and Indigenous Studies Program and holds a Ph.D. from Harvard University (2011). His research examines early/medieval Chinese thought (particularly Confucian ritual and Tao Yuanming's poetry) and Hawaiian indigenous philosophy ('Ike Hawai'i), focusing on themes of vulnerability, resilience, and human relationships.

Ing's research explores:

• The productive role of anxiety in ritual traditions through Confucian texts
• Vulnerability as essential to human integrity in early Chinese ethics
• Hawaiian cosmologies and conceptions of humanity through indigenous language sources
• Grief, disaffection, and resilience in Tao Yuanming's poetic works
• Diasporic Hawaiian identity formation and community building

His publications demonstrate consistent focus on cross-cultural philosophical anthropology, blending textual analysis of classical Chinese sources with contemporary indigenous studies methodologies. Recent work increasingly engages Hawaiian-language materials to reconstruct indigenous epistemologies.

Major Awards & Honors:

• New Directions Fellowship, Mellon Foundation (2020-2022)
• Institute for Advanced Study Fellowship (2020)
• Trustees' Teaching Award (2018)
• Enhancing Life Project Early Career Scholar (2015-2017)
• Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation Junior Scholar (2014-2015)