[1][2] He, along with colleagues Christine Clark and Mark Brimhall-Vargas, have written about the occupation of the academy in higher education to discuss the treatment of diversity in higher education during the Obama era.
[3][4][5] The edited volume has received praise, being awarded the Duke University Office of Inclusion and Equity's December 2012 book of the month.
[6] The volume has also received critique from the neo-conservative Manhattan group, citing that the book does not account for fiscal needs when advocating for diversity.
[9] Fasching-Varner, along with colleague Vanessa Dodo-Seriki, has advanced a critique of under-engaged teaching called "free and reduced pedagogy".
[9] Fasching-Varner and Dodo-Seriki discuss free and reduced pedagogy as a non-people first style of teaching that reduces, through a teacher's discourse, the value of the student and the teacher's ability to teach the student based on non-controllable demographics.
Fasching-Varner has published in the area of culturally relevant pedagogy[8][11][12] Fasching-Varner's book publication "Working Through Whiteness"[13] attempts to, in part, understand how teacher narratives reveal preventative gaps from achieving culturally relevant pedagogy.
Fasching-Varner has an active research agenda centered in critical race theory.
While studying with theorist Adrienne Dixson at Ohio State University, Fasching-Varner developed an interest in critical race theory with an emphasis and focus on the manifestation of white racial identity in the narratives of pre-service teachers.
[10] Fasching-Varner's work links considerations of critical race theory and culturally responsive pedagogy, with an emphasis on the property value of whiteness.
Fasching-Varner has proposed a non-developmental model for racial identity which provides a radically different approach from that proposed by Janet Helms, long considered the authority in white racial identity development.
Fasching-Varner's work has received praise from several leading authorities in the fields of multiculturalism, whiteness studies, and culturally relevant teaching.
[14] Kevin Kumashiro, president of the National Association of Multicultural Educators, suggests that Fasching-Varner has written an "important new book"[14] in this field.
Elaine Richardson, professor of language and literacy at The Ohio State University, encourages people to "read this book.
[14] Finally, Tim Wise, author of White Like Me: Reflections on Race from a Privileged Son, says of Fasching-Varner's work that "All pre-service teachers should read it, as should anyone who cares about the creation of educational equity in the United States".
[14] Around 2014 Fasching-Varner extended his work to include economic analysis of schools, education, and the prison industrial complexes.
[15] Fasching-Varner has extended ideas from critical race theory, particularly racial realism, to work toward explaining the persistent nexus between schools and prisons, articulating that the connection is a natural consequence of neo-liberal economic orientations and policies in the United States.
Fasching-Varner has also provided an explicit look at how prisons in Louisiana, namely the Angola prison, operate as modern-day slave plantations and along with schools serve as the misery industries of Louisiana [16] Fasching-Varner began a cultural exchange in 2004 with partner schools in Chile.
Through the fire: From intake to credential; teacher candidates share their experiences through narrative.
Pay to play: Race and the perils of the college sports industrial complex.
#BRokenPromises, Black deaths, and blue ribbons: Understanding, complicating, and transcending police-community violence.
Race, population studies, and America’s public schools: A critical demography perspective of racial and educational inequity.
Racial battle fatigue in higher education: Exposing the myth of post-racial America.
Occupying the academy: Just how important is diversity work in higher education?
Fasching-Varner, K. J., Desmarchelier, R., Gerlach, D., Wiens, P., Schrader, P. G., Down, B., *Stewart, L., *Stone, M. P., Bagnall, N., Lüke, M. (2020).
Thinking and acting across ponds: Glocalized* intersections of trepidation, neoliberalism, and possibilities for 21st century teacher education.
Fasching-Varner, K. J., *Stone, M. P., Mora Mella, R., Olave Henriques, F., Yacoman Palma, M. (2019).
Love in a “glocal” world: Living and learning to teach through study abroad.
Race, residential segregation, and the death of democracy: Education and the myth of post-racialism.
Band-aids don’t fix bullet holes: A response to “We were there too.” Democracy and Education, 24(2), 1-10.
Racism 2.0 and the death of social and cultural foundations of education: A critical conversation.