GTA will teach! A professor from the University of Tennessee has developed a course on US history based on the famous series of
More and more teachers are using material from video games in the teaching process. For example, the official school curriculum in Poland recommends that students read This War of Mine as an excellent example of an anti-war work, and a teacher in San Diego explained the basics of geometry with the help of the VR game Half-Life: Alyx during the coronavirus pandemic. Now it's the turn to ... GTA!
Here's What We Know
Professor Tore Olsson from the University of Tennessee has developed a course Grand Theft America: U.S. History Since 1980 through the GTA Video Games and from 20 January 2026 he will start teaching modern U.S. history based on the game.
The educator explained that since the 80s, GTA is an encyclopaedia of life in American society. The game is full of satire and black humour, but it perfectly captures the social and political changes in America and shows the dynamics of transforming trends and social norms. And although the places and characters in GTA are fictional, they are based on collected images and convey the spirit of their era.
Immigration, the police, capitalism, illegal substances, and public policy are all crucial dilemmas in contemporary America. And I plan to use the GTA's reference to them as a starting point for a history study that I hope will be interesting and timely for many students.
Students won't be required to take GTA (but where would you find a young person who isn't familiar with GTA?), but footage from the game will be used to illustrate the learning process.
Thor Olsson has previously used Red Dead Redemption to better communicate an earlier page in US history to students.
By the way, GTA VI will not find a use in the course, as its events unfold in the present day and the game will not be of interest from a historical perspective.
Source: IGN
