Matthew McConaughey Is Now a Communications Professor

By Dano Nissen

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Perhaps the next era of the McConaissance will be in education.

McConaughey will return to his alma mater, the University of Texas, to serve as a professor of practice at Austin’s Moody College of Communication this fall. McConaughey, who graduated from the university with a film degree in 1993, has been a visiting instructor since 2015, co-teaching a Script to Screen course with faculty member Scott Rice.

The teaching duo delves into the movie-making process of one or two of the actor’s films per semester, often bringing in the movies’ directors to guest speak. The upcoming course will look at the McConaughey films “The Gentleman” and “Mud,” with the director of the latter, Jeff Nichols, scheduled to visit.

“It’s the class I wish I would have had when I was in film school. Working in the classroom with these students gives me a chance to prepare them,” McConaughey said in a statement. “Making movies, turning words on paper into film, is both a science and art – no matter the time or generation. The elements of truth and genuine joy for the process are timeless. That will always be our classroom focus.”

UT has been propping up their McConaissance scholar, beginning by crowning him Minister of Culture earlier this year. In the new role, McConaughey, a UT sports super-fan, will preside court-side over the university’s swanky new basketball stadium.