On January 20, 2026, the University of Tennessee will open the doors to a history class unlike any other: “Grand Theft America: U.S. History Since 1980 through the GTA Video Games.”
By the time Rockstar releases GTA 6 in May, students will already be exploring America’s past and present through the franchise that has shaped open-world gaming.
Who Came up With the Idea for This GTA Course?
The course is led by Professor Tore Olsson, the same historian who made headlines with his Red Dead Redemption history course.
The success of that project extended into print with Red Dead’s History and into audio with narration by Arthur Morgan’s own Roger Clark.
Olsson has shown he can connect education and entertainment, and now he is applying that approach to GTA.
Olsson had intended to launch the course alongside GTA 6, but Rockstar’s delay of the game to May 26, 2026, made him adjust his plans.
Instead of pausing, he’s pressing on with the games currently out, turning the class into a time capsule that explores GTA III through GTA V as the long-awaited sequel looms.
What Will Students Learn From GTA?
GTA is being used as a framework to study U.S. history from 1980 to today rather than grinding missions for credit.
The franchise’s nearly 30-year timeline makes it a surprisingly useful archive.
Vice City Stories (1984) and Vice City (1986) show the drug-heavy ’80s, and San Andreas (1992) depicts gang culture and the Los Angeles riots.
Later games, such as Liberty City Stories, GTA IV, and GTA V, reflect events of the 21st century, including 9/11 and the recession.
Olsson’s students will use these games to examine issues like economic inequality, mass incarceration, immigration, policing, political divides, and media panics.
He underlines that GTA shapes the view, but it isn’t the history itself.
The fictionalized America of Los Santos and Liberty City becomes a way to open conversations about the very real America outside the classroom.
The course is made more approachable by removing the need to play or own the games.
The course will feature select footage, still images, and hands-on play sessions.
It keeps the material accessible without adding costs or exposing students to restricted content.
His Red Dead Redemption course covered America from 1899 to 1911, and this new GTA course continues the story through the past forty years.
Olsson sees the roots of modern division in the economic turmoil, cultural clashes, and rise of mass media starting in the 1980s.
GTA’s satirical lens, surprisingly enough, makes those shifts easier to unpack.
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