‘Red Dead’ Innovation

by Randall Brown

Students in Associate Professor Tore Olsson’s spring 2024 “Red Dead History” course were already highly engaged in its unique topic: viewing American history through the lens of the popular video game series Red Dead Redemption.

They were in for a surprising new connection, though, when they showed up to class on March 7 expecting a pre-spring-break quiz and group discussion. There was no quiz, and they quickly learned that the group discussion would feature two special “outside experts.”

Actors Roger Clark and Rob Wiethoff, who portray the two main characters in the game series—outlaws Arthur Morgan and John Marston, respectively—walked into the room and greeted them in their characters’ voices.

“The class visit day was really one of the most magical days I’ve ever experienced,” said Olsson. “When Roger walked in and gave them a rollicking Arthur Morgan greeting—that was just an unforgettable moment. In front of the students was the character and voice that they had collectively played and listened to for thousands of hours. The classroom just erupted after that.”

Olsson was pleased with the lively and thoughtful Q&A session his students engaged the actors in once the shock wore off.

“They asked terrific questions about truth-telling in history, what gets lost and gained in historical fictionalization, and career advice for aspiring actors and writers,” he said. “I think the students got a lot from what Roger and Rob shared with us.”

The special day was a high point in a series of high points since Olsson launched his innovative “Red Dead History” class. His focus as a historian—the US South, rural history, and transnational history since the Civil War—drew him to play Red Dead Redemption II during pandemic downtime. He realized he could use the wildly popular game to teach real US history.

“One of Dr. Olsson’s goals as an instructor has been to meet students where they are in their lives,” said Professor Susan Lawrence, head of the UT Department of History. “By taking the history depicted in Red Dead Redemption seriously and providing students with ways to contextualize it through professional historians’ work and associated primary sources, Olsson has created a winning combination.”

The wins stacked up from the beginning. The class launched in fall 2021 with 60 students on board—far more than usual for a course of its type. In 2023, Olsson earned a James R. and Nell W. Cunningham Outstanding Teaching Award from the College of Arts and Sciences and published an article about his course in the American Historical Review, the historical profession’s most prestigious journal.

It also engaged students who had not even played the game.

“I am not a video game person, nor have I ever played a single minute of Red Dead Redemption,” said Brandon Wilhoit, a 2023 political science alumnus who took the class in fall 2022. “But the approach Olsson took was incredibly unique, and something I wanted to be a part of. It is a masterclass on storytelling and how to keep the engagement of college students for an entire 75-minute-long class.”

Divisional Dean for Arts and Humanities Beauvais Lyons—himself an artist known for projects that involve the creation of imaginary histories—appreciates the unique effectiveness of Olsson’s course.

“Our conceptions of the past have always been informed by how a story is told,” said Lyons. “In this class, Olsson is helping his students in ‘Red Dead History’ apply the research tools of the historian to a new media form. This course is an example of what happens when the arts and humanities intersect.”

Olsson’s next move is a book, coming out in August 2024, titled Red Dead’s History: A Video Game, An Obsession, and America’s Violent Past. Actor Roger Clark even signed on to narrate the audiobook edition.

The book examines how well the games fare as recreations of history, exploring the real violence and political turbulence between 1870 and 1920, and what can be learned to understand contemporary American culture.

“What really motivated me to write Red Dead’s History was my burning desire to get serious history into the hands of people who might not otherwise pick it up,” said Olsson. “We’re a nation desperately in need of honest conversation about our shared past—the good, the bad, and the ugly. Unfortunately, political divisions too often fracture our ability to have those debates. But the video gaming community remains one of the most ideologically heterogenous spaces in the nation. And I hope that Red Dead’s History might speak to a wide swath of that community, harnessing the emotional bond so many millions feel for the Red Dead Redemption games—and in doing so, cast light on some of the darkest corners of American history.”