He has a master’s degree in theological studies from Harvard Divinity School and a Ph.D. in East Asian Languages and Civilizations from Harvard University. Michael studies the early period of Confucianism (5th century BCE to 2nd century CE), with an emphasis on the Liji. His current book, The Dysfunction of Ritual in Early Confucianism (due out with Oxford University Press in October 2012), analyzes the ways in which the authors of the Liji coped with the possibility that their rituals might fail to create an ordered world. Michael’s interests, from a broader perspective, concern issues vulnerability as they relate to Confucian accounts of the human condition, and Confucian attitudes toward the ability, or inability, of human beings to determine their own welfare. Contact: ming@indiana.edu.