Adjunct Instructors - History
Posted May 4, 2026 · We last checked this listing on Oct 6, 2026
Likely interview questions for this role
Written from this job description, not a generic list. Each one notes what the interviewer is really checking.
About your past
You might be asked to teach a world history survey one term and an upper-division course on African or Latin American history the next. Which areas can you teach well right now, and which would take real preparation?
What they are checking: Whether they know the honest edges of their expertise, since the dean needs to match people to courses quickly.
Tell me about a time you taught students who were only in your history class because it fulfilled a requirement. How did you get them engaged?
What they are checking: How they reach non-majors in core curriculum courses, who make up much of an adjunct's classroom.
What have you published, presented or worked on in history within the last five years?
What they are checking: Whether they meet the college's requirement for current activity in the field, not just a degree earned long ago.
What would you need from the department to do your best work as an adjunct here?
What they are checking: Whether they understand adjunct realities and can be self-sufficient while still asking for reasonable support.
What would you do
If the dean called you a week before the semester to take over a European history course whose instructor left, what would you do in those first few days?
What they are checking: Whether they can step into a last-minute opening calmly and build a workable syllabus under time pressure.
St. Norbert is a Catholic liberal arts college. How do you handle topics like colonialism or the history of the church in a way that respects students with different views?
What they are checking: Whether they can teach difficult history honestly while keeping a classroom where every student feels able to speak.
A student emails you claiming a grade on a paper was unfair. Walk me through how you respond.
What they are checking: Whether they handle grade disputes with clear criteria and professionalism rather than defensiveness or giving in.
About the work
How would you structure a lower-division world history survey so it doesn't become a race through dates and empires?
What they are checking: Whether they can choose themes and cut content, which is the hardest part of teaching a survey well.
How do you teach students to read a primary source critically instead of just summarizing it?
What they are checking: Whether they teach historical thinking as a skill rather than only delivering content to memorize.
How do you design writing assignments in a survey course so you can grade them fairly and still give useful feedback?
What they are checking: Whether their workload plan is realistic for a part-time instructor with possibly large sections.
Practice this interview out loud.
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Practice this out loudThe full job description
As published by St. Norbert College.