- Campus:
- IU Bloomington

Michael Ing is Professor of Religious Studies and Director of the Native American and Indigenous Studies Program at Indiana University, with courtesy appointments in the Department of Philosophy and the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures. Michael studies the knowledge of his ancestors--Hawaiian and Chinese. He is interested in questions about vulnerability, resilience, and how human beings construe relationships with each other and the world we inhabit.
Michael is currently working to grow the subfield of Hawaiʻi Philosophy, which fosters a sustained dialogue between ʻIke Hawaiʻi (traditional Hawaiian thought) and global approaches to philosophy. Michael's work relies on Hawaiian language sources to ask philosophical questions of comparative significance; addressing these questions from Hawaiian perspectives—what does it mean to be kanaka (human)? How are we related to other beings in the world? How do we live a good life? How is knowledge produced, maintained, and passed on? Etc. He also writes about Hawaiian identity in light of nearly half of Hawaiians living beyond the islands of Hawaiʻi.