Marhefka holds a Ph.D. in Education, Curriculum and Instruction. Marhefka's appointment involves teaching courses in Educational Studies, Exploring Teaching, and Elementary Methods. Her research employs qualitative research methods with a phenomenological lens of learning through lived experiences. She is interested in the intellectual labor of teaching and how teacher agency relates to critical and creative place-based curricular approaches.
In partnership with UNH’s Center for the Humanities she has collaborated on grants funded by the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS), as well as the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). Her work integrates critical pedagogies in spaces for preservice and in-service teachers to center their local stories, through collaborating with community organizations and experts.
