Monique Bassey, ASLA

Monique Bassey is a Visiting Assistant Professor in the Department of Landscape Architecture and Regional & Community Planning at Kansas State University. Trained in architecture and landscape architecture, she holds a Bachelor of Architecture and a Master of Landscape Architecture from the University of Arizona. Her research explores how relationships with land shape communities and how design can support environmental and social justice, cultural resilience, and land stewardship. Her teaching experience includes design studios, topical seminars, and landscape technology courses that connect technical knowledge with cultural, social, and environmental responsibility.

Bassey integrates design studios with applied research and community engagement. Her work includes partnerships with Indigenous communities and organizations, including the Jiwere-Nut’achi (Otoe-Missouria Tribe), Lincoln Indian Center, Inc., and Blue Heron Tióšpaye. Through these collaborations, she has engaged students in Tribal engagement training, cultural and site research, land-based design, ecological restoration, and long-term community planning. This work has contributed to student awards, grant-supported landscape stewardship, and forthcoming scholarship in Great Plains Research and Activism in Design Education: Health, Equity, and Climate Action.

Prior to joining Kansas State University, Bassey served as the Hyde Chair of Excellence and Visiting Assistant Professor of Landscape Architecture at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln and as the Marie M. Bickham Chair and Professional in Residence at Louisiana State University. She shares her teaching and research through invited lectures, keynote addresses, and national and international conferences, including ASLA, CELA, ECLAS, and IFLA.

Bassey’s service and professional practice further connect her academic work to the broader discipline. She is a former Vice President of Communications on the ASLA National Executive Committee and has held leadership and service roles with ASLA and the Black Landscape Architects Network (BlackLAN). Her professional experience with SmithGroup, MIG, and the Trust for Public Land spans neighborhood and campus planning, site design, public engagement, and outreach initiatives.