On November 19th, Professor Li Naikun from the Department of Foreign Languages in Shandong University made an academic report in the 25th Boya Forum held by School of Translation Studies, with the theme of “Starting from the Teaching and Research of British and American Literature in the Department of Foreign Languages of Shandong University” in Room 316 of Wenwai Building.

At first, Professor Li talked about the history of British and American literature major in Shandong University. Then he started his report with three questions: the relationship between teaching and research, the investment proportion in teaching and research, and the scope and function of literary research. For the first question, he said that teaching and research were supportive of each other, and they could not be separated. For the second question, Professor Li shared his own experience of doing literature researches, and he believed that the most important thing was to work hard. Students could spend more time in the weekends or vacations to do researches. What’s more, professor Li stated four couples of relationships in literary research and its three functions. The four relations are the relationship within human beings, between human and nature, the individual and the society, and the relationship of a person and his/her inner self. Besides, literature had social function, educational function, and aesthetic values. At last, Professor Li emphasized that comparative studies could be made between British and American literature and Chinese literature, with the aim of having a better understanding of their differences.