Teaching Specialist or Lecturer, Department of Geography, Environment and Society

About the Job

The Department of Geography, Environment and Society in the College of Liberal Arts occasionally needs teaching specialists or lecturers to teach courses on a variety of topics that cannot be staffed by regular faculty or graduate students. Openings of this kind sometimes occur for teaching evening and summer session courses, as well as day courses and courses offered through Independent and Distance Learning.

This does not constitute a posting for vacancies but establishes a pool of applicants should openings occur during the 2025/26 academic year. Applicants will be selected from this pool on an as-needed basis through the academic year. Appointments are part-time and may be renewable based on need, funding, and performance.

The teaching specialist or lecturer may be responsible for all aspects of teaching, including course design, lectures, laboratory exercises, and grading. Applicants will be selected from this pool on an as-needed basis for appointments for the 2025/26 academic year (fall and/or spring terms) and/or Summer 2026.

Required qualifications:

• BA/BS in Geography or related field;
• Knowledge of Geography principles and technology;
• Some specialized knowledge related to Geography, Urban Studies, and/or GIS.

Preferred qualifications:

• M.A. or Ph.D. in Geography or related field. Teaching (e.g., training workshops, short courses, college/university) and/or professional experience.
• Applicants with a B.A. or M.A. will be appointed at the Teaching Specialist level; those with a Ph.D. will be appointed at the Lecturer level.
• Candidates must possess excellent oral and written communication skills, and be capable of delivering high-quality instruction to a diverse student body.

The Department of Geography, Environment and Society at the University of Minnesota is a top-ranked, nationally and internationally recognized department that includes programs in Geography, Urban Studies, and Geographic Information Science. Studies in Geography offer an integrative perspective on the relations among social, political, economic, and physical phenomena in space and place, and provides a methodological emphasis in Geographic Information Science.

Urban Studies is an interdisciplinary undergraduate program that focuses on the conceptual and analytical frameworks and specialized skills needed for professions focused on urban change or development in public agencies, non‑profits, or private business, or for graduate study in urban planning, law, social welfare, public affairs, or the social and environmental sciences. The MGIS program, first of its type in the U.S., is a professional degree program that provides a comprehensive GIS degree that balances work in the theoretical/conceptual, technical, and application domains of GIS;

delivers coursework at times convenient for students employed full time; and emphasizes societal impacts of GIS technologies. The Department provides up‑to‑date computing, cartography/GIS, and physical geography laboratories, support for tree‑ring analysis, soil characterization, and paleoenvironmental reconstruction, and one of the nation's finest libraries supporting all undergraduate, graduate, and professional research and training programs.

FFI: http://(Use the "Apply for this Job" box below)./

Home to the arts, social sciences and humanities disciplines and programs, the College of Liberal Arts is the largest college in the University of Minnesota and comprises 31 academic departments, and over 20 interdisciplinary research centers and administrative/support units. CLA has over 1,300 faculty and staff spanning research, teaching, advising, outreach, and administrative functions. CLA units reside in over twenty buildings on the East Bank and West Bank of the Twin Cities campus.

CLA enrolls nearly 13,000 undergraduate students, over 40% of the undergraduate enrollment on the Twin Cities campus, 1,400 graduate students, and has an annual all‑funds budget of $290 million.

CLA is a destination for curious, compassionate individuals who are committed to making our increasingly interdependent and diverse global community work for…