Tara Prendergast

Tara studies the intersection between precarity, race/ethnicity, culture and public policy. Her research engages with how the "beneficiaries" of public policy interventions actually experience them and the particular ways in which such interventions interrupt and (re)produce inequality. Leveraging a comparative case design, her dissertation examines the meanings of wages and wage increases for low-wage workers in urban California. A passionate educator, Tara teaches undergraduate courses on political sociology and social problems.  Before graduate school, Tara spent almost a decade engaged in anti-poverty work as a community organizer, program manager, and evaluation professional. She has an AB in history from Brown University and a Master's in community and regional planning from the University of New Mexico.