From Studio to Storybook: Career Discovery Program Inspires New Course for Future Landscape Architects

At Ball State University, one faculty member transformed a lifelong love of children’s literature into an innovative new learning experience for landscape architecture students. 

Students in an innovative Ball State University landscape architecture elective course transformed STEM and design concepts into original children’s books. Through a partnership with Acton Academy at Fall Creek, students developed, tested, illustrated, and professionally published stories that introduce young readers to landscape architecture in creative and engaging ways.

Inspired by ASLA’s STEM Literacy by Design initiative, Kathleen Unland, Assistant Teaching Professor, Department of Landscape Architecture designed a Spring 2026 elective course that challenged students to turn complex design concepts into engaging children’s books. The idea combined two personal passions: encouraging literacy through landscape architecture and creating meaningful, creative learning opportunities for students.

The course, titled Stories by Design, invited students to move beyond traditional classroom learning and into the highest levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy, synthesizing knowledge and transforming it into something entirely new.

Learn more about the course and access student’s published works in From Studio to Storybook: Career Discovery Program Inspires New Course for Future Landscape Architects.