The University of Tennessee is shaking things up with a new college course. This class will use the globally famous video game series, Grand Theft Auto, to teach American history. Students will explore events in the U.S. from the 1980s until today through the game’s stories.
The course is called “Grand Theft America: U.S. History Since 1980 through the GTA Video Games.” History Professor Tore Olsson designed and will teach it. Many might recognize Professor Olsson’s name. He taught a similar course before, using the game Red Dead Redemption to look at history.
This new class will dive into changes and happenings across the United States over the last fifty years. Grand Theft Auto has been around for a long time. Because of this, the games offer glimpses into various periods from 1980 right up to the present. They act like a digital scrapbook of these times.
It is true that the Grand Theft Auto series often pokes fun at society or critiques it. The games aren’t always trying to show the world exactly as it is. Still, they bring up many topics that work well for academic discussion in the classroom. They provide a unique lens for studying history.
The class is set to kick off on January 20, 2026. If you cannot sign up for the course, don’t worry. Professor Olsson plans to share interesting bits from the class. He will post updates regularly on his social media pages. You can find him on Twitter (X), Instagram, and TikTok.