Norton Wheeler's book, The Role of American NGOs in China's Modernization: Invited Influence, explores the dynamics of cultural exchange through an in-depth investigation of three organizations at the forefront of U.S.-China non-governmental relations: the Hopkins-Nanjing Center for Chinese and American Studies, the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations (NCUSCR), and The 1990 Institute. Norton Wheeler reveals the impact of American non-governmental organizations (NGOs) on education, the environment, fiscal policy, and civil society in contemporary China. At a National Committee program on Monday, May 19, Professor Wheeler will discuss the role that NGOs play by complementing formal diplomacy and present a model of society-to-society relations that moves beyond old debates over cultural imperialism. 

 

Norton Wheeler is an associate professor at Missouri Southern State University, where he has taught U.S. and Asian history since 2008. Prior to that he manufacturing and had considerable interaction with East Asia. From 2004 to 2006, he lived in Nantong, Jiangsu. With a day job of setting up a factory, he also conducted some of the research that resulted in his book. Dr. Wheeler received his B.A. from the University of Iowa and his M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Kansas.