Olsson Awarded Lindsay Young Professorship
Tore Olsson, professor in the UT Department of History, has been awarded a Lindsay Young Professorship.
Olsson’s work focuses on the history of the United States after the Civil War, specifically centering on popular culture, political economy, environment and food history, and the U.S. South. He explores video games and how they can open windows to social and political history. His most recent book, Red Dead’s History: A Video Game, an Obsession, and America’s Violent Past, was published in 2024. It focuses on the Red Dead Redemption video games, drawing on the plot and characters to explore issues of capitalism and race in the U.S. after the Civil War. He taught an undergraduate class on this subject, aiming to make history understandable and relevant to diverse audiences.
Olsson has received support from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Social Science Research Council, the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations, and other funding organizations. His work has also been featured in popular outlets such as the Wall Street Journal and The History Channel.
He developed a new course titled “Grand Theft America: U.S. History since 1980 through the GTA Video Games,” in which students examine the last half-century of American history through the lens of the popular Grand Theft Auto video games. He received the UT Alumni Association’s Outstanding Teacher Award in part for his work on this class.
Established in 1980 by Knoxville lawyer Lindsay Young, these endowed professorships reward faculty who are outstanding teachers, researchers, and public servants. Ten awards are made each year: one in law, one in veterinary medicine, and eight in the humanities. This professorship will help Olsson continue to make U.S. social and political history accessible and applicable to all.
by Sloan Docekal