On December 17, 2015, Jerusha McCormack, professor of UCD and currently a guest professor of BFSU Irish Studies Centre, and John Blair, professor in the University of Geneva (Switzerland), presented alecture titled “Can Westerners understand China? Translating Words, Comparing Cultures”. Professor Wang Zhanpeng from the Irish Studies Centre served as the chairperson. Teachers and students from Irish Studies Center as well as other studies centers of BFSU attended the lecture.

The two professors elaborated ten Chinese key words which they found difficult for westerners to understand, such as “孝（Xiào）”, “关系(Guān Xì)” and “面子(Miàn Zi)”, and interpreted the differences between Chinese and Western ways of thinking. The lecture was both inspirational and humorous, with the audience actively involved in interactions with the speakers.

Professor McCormack and Professor Blair have dedicated themselves to the comparison studies of Chinese and Western cultures. Western Civilization with Chinese Comparisons, a book co-authored by them, is currently the text book for a postgraduate course with the same name in SEIS. Their latest bookThinking through China was published in the USA by Rowman and Littlefield.