• Skip navigation
  • Skip to navigation
  • Skip to the bottom
Simulate organization breadcrumb open Simulate organization breadcrumb close
Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg
  • Deutsch
  • UnivIS
  • Campo
  • Contacts and directions
  • Careers at FAU
Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg
Navigation Navigation close
  • FAU
    • News
    • Energy-saving measures at FAU
    • Corona-Info
    • Welcome to FAU
    • Strategy and objectives
    • History and remembrance
    • Campus locations at FAU
    • Site development at FAU
    • Organisation and committees
    • Legal regulations
    • Finding your way around: contacts and directions
    • Faculties and organisational units
      • Faculties
      • Universitätsklinikum Erlangen
      • Central research institutions
      • Collaboration and partnerships
    Portal FAU
  • People
    • Students
    • Employees
    • Researchers
    • Alumni
    • Working at FAU
      • Jobs at FAU
      • Professorships
      • Energy technology and technical building services
      • Vocational training at FAU
      • Training and career development at FAU
    • Gender/Diversity/Family
    • New at FAU/Onboarding/Incoming
    • Offboarding/Outgoing
    Portal People
  • Education
    • Student orientation
    • Degree programmes
    • Application and enrolment
      • Application and enrolment for internationals
    • Advice and services
    • Study organisation
      • Terms from the university life
      • Semester dates
      • Re-registration and semester fees
      • Online platforms for organising your studies
      • Start of the semester
      • Degree programme and examination regulations (Link to our German website)
    • International
      • Information for international applicants
      • Going abroad
    • Student life
    • Teaching at FAU
      • Quality management in teaching and studying
    • Information for parents
    Portal Education
  • Research
    • Research profile
    • Collaborative research
      • EU collaborative projects
      • DFG projects
      • Federal projects
      • Collaborative research in Bavaria
    • Outstanding individual research
      • Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize
      • Alexander von Humboldt Professorship
      • ERC grants
      • Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Prize
    • Research projects and partnerships
      • Max Planck Institutes
      • Fraunhofer Institutes
      • Helmholtz Institute Erlangen-Nürnberg
      • Energie Campus Nürnberg
      • Nuremberg Campus of Technology
      • Medical Valley
    • Welcome Centre for International Researchers
    • Graduate Centre
      • Doctoral degrees at FAU
      • Service for Young Academics
    • Services for researchers
      • Funding, advice and submitting applications
      • Publications and research data
      • Research information system
      • Science communication
      • FAUconnect
    • Responsible research
    Portal Research
  • Outreach
    • Events
    • Inventions and patents
      • Intellectual property (IP) policy of FAU
      • Service for inventors
    • Innovation and start-ups
      • Partnerships and collaborations
      • Innovation platforms and networks
      • Consulting services for start-ups
    • Professional development
    • Donations
      • FAU Innovation Fund
      • Deutschlandstipendium (Germany Scholarship)
    • FAU for companies and organisations
    • Science for citizens
    • FAU Shop
    • Press Office
    Portal Outreach
  1. Home
  2. FAU
  3. Successes and honorary academic titles
  4. FAU Ambassadors
  5. Prof. Michael J. Puett

Prof. Michael J. Puett

In page navigation: FAU
  • Site development at FAU
    • Developments in Erlangen city center
    • Developments at FAU Campus Erlangen (South)
    • Developments in Nuremberg
  • News
  • Welcome to FAU
    • Mission
      • Mission: teaching and studying
    • Target agreements
    • Internationalisation
      • Internationalisation strategy of FAU
        • Recommendations for FAU’s language policy
      • National Code of Conduct for German Universities Regarding International Students
      • Erasmus+
        • Erasmus+ events at FAU
      • Language Service
    • Facts and Figures
  • Strategy and objectives
  • History and remembrance
    • History of FAU
    • Collections and museums
      • Anatomical Collection
      • Astronomical Collection
      • Botanical collections
      • Botanical Garden and Scented Garden
      • Computer Technology Collection Erlangen (ISER)
      • Ethnological Collection
      • FAU Collection of Antiquities
      • Geoscience collections
      • History of School Education Collection
      • Martius Pharmacognostic Collection
      • Mathematical Collection
      • Medical Collection
      • Medical Moulage Collection
      • Musical Instrument Collection
      • Pathological Collection
      • Prehistory and Protohistory Collection
      • University Library
      • Zoological Collection
      • University Archive
    • Topics and Projects
      • Controversial remembrance – the problems surrounding names given to streets and academic institutions
      • Publication: “Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen 1918-1945”
      • Revocation of doctoral degrees at the University of Erlangen during the National Socialist period
  • Campus locations at FAU
    • FAU Erlangen campus
    • FAU Fürth campus
    • FAU Nuremberg campus
    • Other locations
  • Faculties and organisational units
    • Faculties
    • Universitätsklinikum Erlangen
    • Central research institutions
      • Restructuring of central research institutions
    • Collaboration and partnerships
    • University Archive
  • Organisation and committees
    • President’s Staff
      • International Affairs
      • Strategic Planning
      • Strategic Projects
      • Appointments and Appointment Procedures
      • Data and Management Information
      • Research Support
      • Young Researcher Support
      • Outreach Support
    • University Administration
    • Executive Board
      • Prof. Dr. Joachim Hornegger, President
      • Prof. Dr. Andreas Hirsch, Vice President People
      • Prof. Dr. Bärbel Kopp, Vice President Education
      • Prof. Dr. Georg Schett, Vice President Research
      • Prof. Dr. Kathrin M. Möslein, Vice President Outreach
      • Christian Zens, Chancellor
      • Prof. Dr. med. Kerstin Ute Amann, University Women’s Representative (advisory role)
      • Dr. Jürgen Kleinöder, CIO
      • Prof. Dr. Michael Tielemann, CISO
      • Silke Sauer, CBO
      • Prof. Dr. Matthias S. Fifka, Sustainability Officer
      • Prof. Dr. Katharina Herkendell, Officer for the Prevention of Antisemitism.
      • Prof. Dr. Maria Rentetzi, Internationalization Officer
      • Prof. Dr. Paul Steinmann, Officer for Strategic Development
      • Prof. Dr. Karl Wilbers, Officer for Human Resources Development
      • Office of the Executive Board
    • University Governing Board
    • Senate
    • The University Council
    • Advisory Board
    • Committees and senior officers
      • CIO committees
      • Commissions
        • Commission for the Investigation of Scientific Misconduct
      • Council for Academic Staff
      • Doctoral Candidates’ Representatives
      • Students Representatives
      • Staff councils and Disability Liaison Officer
      • Senior officers
    • University elections
  • Legal regulations
  • Finding your way around: contacts and directions
  • Successes and honorary academic titles
    • FAU Nobel Prize winners
    • Academy members
      • German National Academy of Sciences (Leopoldina)
      • Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities, Munich
      • Academy of Sciences and Literature, Mainz
      • National Academy of Science and Engineering (acatech)
      • Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities
      • Academy of Public Sciences in Erfurt
      • Austrian Academy of Sciences
      • Göttingen Academy of Sciences and Humanities
      • Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities
      • Saxon Academy of Sciences, Leipzig
      • Academia Europaea
      • Royal Academy of Belles Lettres
      • European Academy of Sciences
    • Bavarian Maximilian Order
    • Honorary senators and citizens
    • FAU Ambassadors
      • Prof. Dr. Elisabeth Bronfen
      • Prof. John Bessant
      • Prof. Michael J. Puett
      • Prof. Vijay K. Bhargava
      • Prof. Dr. DhC Enrique Zuazua
    • Honorary doctorates
    • FAU Distinguished Service Medal
    • Helmut Volz Medal
    • Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany

Prof. Michael J. Puett

Introducing FAU Ambassador Prof. Michael J. Puett, PhD

Prof. Michael J. Puett, PhD (Image: Charles Michael)
Prof. Michael J. Puett, PhD (Image: Charles Michael)

Michael Puett is Walter C. Klein Professor of Chinese History at the Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations and Chair of the Committee on the Study of Religion at Harvard University.

In 2011, he worked at the International Research Consortium for Research in the Humanities “Fate, Freedom and Prognostication in East Asia and Europe” (IKGF) at FAU as a Visiting Fellow. Since then, he has been a member of the scientific advisory board of the IKGF.

He is also a non-resident long-term fellow for programs in anthropological and historical sciences and the languages and civilizations of East Asia at the Swedish Collegium for Advanced Study, Uppsala. Furthermore, Michael Puett was visiting professor in France and Singapore and Senior Research Fellow at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, Berlin.

Achievements

Puett joined the Harvard faculty in 1994 after earning his M.A. and Ph.D. from the Department of Anthropology at the University of Chicago. His interests focus on the inter-relations between religion, anthropology, history, and philosophy. In his research, Puett aims to bring the study of China into larger historical and comparative frameworks. He has published five books, numerous articles as well as conference papers on early Chinese history, and on classical Chinese ritual, social, and political theory. Puett has received multiple awards for his teaching and advising, such as the Joseph R. Levenson Memorial Teaching Prize in 2008. Since 2012, his General Education course, “Classical Chinese Ethical and Political Theory,” has been the third most enrolled undergraduate course at Harvard. In 2016, Michael Puett became a Foreign Member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Science.

By appointing Professor Puett as FAU-Ambassador, FAU honours an outstanding Sinologist who can vitally foster the internationalisation and profiling of the science location Erlangen with his transnational network.

Professor Puett, what do you see as your main objectives as FAU-Ambassador?

I hope to do everything I can to spread the word about the tremendously exciting cosmopolitan family that FAU is creating, as well as to continue to work closely and collaborate with the extraordinary scholars at FAU.

You were a Visiting Fellow at the International Research Consortium for Research in the Humanities „Fate, Freedom and Prognostication in East Asia and Europe” (IKGF) in Erlangen. What made you choose FAU as your host university for a research stay?

I chose FAU because it has such an extraordinarily vibrant intellectual culture. The IKGF in particular is a wonderful, and highly international, community.

I found my time at FAU to be very inspiring.

You specialize on China Studies, specifically the framework of philosophy, anthropology, history, and religion. What initially sparked your interest in this field?

I was initially trained in European intellectual history and philosophy, and I became interested in the Chinese tradition in order to explore the development of a different intellectual tradition.

Your lectures are among the most popular classes at Harvard. What can current students learn from analyzing classical Chinese texts?

Studying classical Chinese texts helps students question many of their fundamental assumptions about the self, society, and the political world. I always tell my students that they do not have to agree with the arguments in the classical Chinese texts, but they should try to take the ideas seriously and thus realize that ideas they take for granted are only one possible way of thinking – and perhaps not always the best way.

In your opinion, what are the particular strengths of FAU in an international context?

I love how cosmopolitan FAU is, and I love the international focus of FAU.

This is something all universities should strive to emulate.

What were your first and subsequent impressions of the Erlangen-Nuremberg region?

One of my first impressions of the Erlangen-Nuremberg region was how nice and welcoming people are. That impression has most certainly stayed with me on every subsequent visit!  The quality of life in Erlangen is wonderful. I always love my stays there.

What would you say to students or young researchers who are considering whether they should choose FAU for a stay abroad?

I highly recommend students and young researchers to choose FAU for a stay abroad. They would find FAU to be a very exciting academic community, and Erlangen to be an enjoyable place to live.

Is there anything that a visiting researcher should definitely remember to bring for their stay at FAU?

The only thing they need to bring is a willingness to appreciate intellectual stimulation and to enjoy life!

Can you tell us some of your favourite places at FAU and in the region?

I always love reading in the Schlossgarten, and often take evening walks through the Burgberggarten. The Germanisches Nationalmuseum in Nuremberg is another place I love.  And, of course, the Christmas Market in Nuremberg is amazing!

Aside from these places, was there any event or personal encounter that really impressed you?

What has always impressed me deeply at FAU are the conversations with faculty and students. The intellectual culture at FAU is highly stimulating.

Is there anything else you would like to add?

Just how deeply honored I am to serve as an FAU Ambassador, and how much I look forward to continuing to be a part of the extraordinary FAU Family. Thank you so much again!




  • Contact
  • Press Office
  • Intranet
  • What to do in an emergency
  • Reporting errors
  • Imprint
  • Privacy
  • Accessibility
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • Xing
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
Up