Stanford Root

Schedule

Stanford Root

Schedule

HISTORY 343G

Tobacco and Health in World History: How Big Nic created the template for global science denial (HISTORY 243G)

UNITS:4-5
GRADING:Letter (ABCD/NP)
LEVEL:Graduate
GER:—

Cigarettes are the world's leading cause of death--but how did we come into this world, where 6 trillion cigarettes are smoked every year? Here we explore the political, cultural, and technological origins of the cigarette and cigarette epidemic, using the tobacco industry's HISTORY 80 million pages of secret documents. Topics include the history of cigarette advertising and cigarette design, the role of the tobacco industry in fomenting climate change denial, and questions raised by the testimony of experts in court.

Syllabus for selected term:
View Autumn 2026 Syllabus

Sections

1 Term
Colloquium 1Open
ID: 7762
0 / 15 enrolled
DAYS:Monday
TIME:1:30 PM – 4:20 PM
LOCATION:200-201
INSTRUCTOR:
Proctor, Robert
units

HISTORY 343G: Tobacco and Health in World History: How Big Nic created the template for global science denial (HISTORY 243G)

4-5 units · Letter (ABCD/NP)

Cigarettes are the world's leading cause of death--but how did we come into this world, where 6 trillion cigarettes are smoked every year? Here we explore the political, cultural, and technological origins of the cigarette and cigarette epidemic, using the tobacco industry's 80 million pages of secret documents. Topics include the history of cigarette advertising and cigarette design, the role of the tobacco industry in fomenting climate change denial, and questions raised by the testimony of experts in court.

Offered in Autumn 2026 at Stanford University.

Autumn 2026 sections

  • Colloquium — Monday 1:30 PM – 4:20 PM — 200-201 — Proctor, Robert (Graduate)

More HISTORY courses

  • HISTORY 338B: Modern British History, 19th and 20th Century
  • HISTORY 338J: The European Scramble for Africa: Origins and Debates (AFRICAAM 238J, HISTORY 238J)
  • HISTORY 339D: Capital and Empire (HISTORY 239D)
  • HISTORY 341: The Techies and The Fuzzies: A History of the Two Cultures Problem (HISTORY 241)
  • HISTORY 342: Science in the Making: Nature, Knowledge, and Experience, 1500-1800 (HISTORY 242)
  • HISTORY 343C: People, Plants, and Medicine: Atlantic World Amerindian, African, and European Science (CSRE 243C, CSRE 443C, FEMGEN 243C, FEMGEN 443C, HISTORY 243C, HISTORY 443C)
  • HISTORY 344F: New Directions in Gendered Innovations in Science, Medicine, Technology, and Environment (FEMGEN 243F, FEMGEN 344F, HISTORY 244F, HISTORY 444F)
  • HISTORY 349C: Colonial Africa and the Making of the Modern World (AFRICAAM 249X, HISTORY 249C)
  • HISTORY 351A: Core in American History, Part I
  • HISTORY 351D: Core in American History, Part IV
  • HISTORY 351F: Core in American History, Part VI
  • HISTORY 352: Originalism and the American Constitution (AMSTUD 252, HISTORY 252)

All HISTORY courses · All departments