NYU’s Weekly Student Newspaper
WASHINGTON SQUARE NEWS Vol. 45, No. 14
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2016
Native American Studies as a Minor? By RAVEN QUESENBERRY Contributing Writer
Indigenous and Native American students may now study their heritages. The Native American and Indigenous Students Group said the university began addressing indigenous peoples’ concerns by creating a new Native and Indigenous studies minor. NAISG long advocated for this, since there are currently no indigenous studies programs in New York City, despite it having the largest indigenous population of any city in the U.S. NAISG worked for this new minor with the Native Studies Forum — a collaborative student and faculty organization started in 2006 — but it was met with many challenges, such as a lack funding. Gallatin adjunct professor Amalia Cordova, is a founding member of NSF, and she said the financial situation made it difficult for staff and students to rally around the effort. “Because it’s not a center, and it’s not a paid position for the chair of the Native Studies Forum, it’s
gobbinjr Captivates With Dream Pop
not a priority for anybody,” Cordova said. However, the program finally received attention when it was added to last year’s Black and Brown Coalition list of demands. It then piqued the interest of CAS Dean Gabrielle Starr, who advocated for the effort on an administrative level. NAISG co-president and GLS junior Taylor Norman said that she and the rest of the NAISG team are very optimistic about the creation of this minor and expect it to form within a semester or two. “It will take at least two years to get a major formed,” Norman said. “But right now [faculty members are] gathering up all the Native and Indigenous studies courses that NYU offers and compiling that into a minor.” Both NAISG and the NSF hope this will lead to creating an entire center or space for indigenous student life. While a course of study within the Department of Social and Cultural Analysis is a great first step, they also worry the program might be mismanaged.
By GILCHRIST GREEN Music Editor
PHOTO BY DIAMOND NAGA SIU
The NAISG has been advocating for a Native and Indigenous studies minor during a time when advocacy for MINOR continued on PG. 3 Native Americans has been at the forefront of news.
Students Doing Stand-Up Stand Out
By Camille Larkins STAFF WRITER
Whether they tell one-liners at open mics, extended stories at showcases or sketches on digital platforms, NYU comedians take every opportunity to hustle and make a name for themselves in the competitive world of New York comedy. Stand-up comedy is its own artistic form, and with hundreds of comedy clubs, New York City provides the perfect platform for these students to get on stage. Balancing a budding stand-up career with school is hard enough. Being vulnerable in front of an audience you don’t know, having to listen to your jokes bomb and waiting until
2 a.m. to finally get some mic time are just some of the challenges stand-up comedians have to face every time they get on stage. Harrison Herreman, a Tisch junior, insists that it is all about taking stand-up seriously and having passion. “The most challenging thing about stand up is that to get way better you have to treat it like a job, and that can constantly get in the way of your personal life and school,” Herreman said. “It leads to a lot of late nights. But if you really throw your spirit into it, you can learn a lot about yourself as a person, and you can learn a lot about being funny.” After dedicating countless hours to watching specials to
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learn more about the craft, Herreman decided to try it out for himself. He began his college career performing two to three times a week, but quickly got hooked and started doing it more — sometimes up to 20 open mics a week. Tisch junior Rachel Sennott did stand-up casually her freshman year until she didn’t have time to do it anymore. The spring of her sophomore year, however, she began to deal with depression and anxiety and started doing open mics seriously as an outlet. She now goes to open mics five to seven nights a week and recently performed at her first paying gig. “I was heckled and called a slut,” Sennott said. “It’s a great
time for women in comedy!” Claire Greising, a Tisch sophomore, agreed that misogyny, unfortunately, abounds in the stand-up world. “If you aren’t funny, it’s confirming their idea that women can’t be funny,” Greising said. “And if you do well, then you’re funny for a woman. It’s really emotionally taxing, performing for a bunch of old white men who are mad. I have to rev myself up every time.” The first time Greising tried performing comedy was at her audition for the Astor Place Riots, NYU’s stand up comedy club, where she did a three-minute bit about a guy trying to flirt with her by talking about
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Holding her ground in the New York music scene, gobbinjr, the project of former NYU student Emma Witmer, just released a promising new EP that hugs and kisses its listeners with dreamy, synthy femme pop. Although previously available to stream on Bandcamp and SoundCloud, the EP titled “vom night” was officially released on Nov. 4. The six-song collection is uniquely Witmer’s vision, as she wrote, recorded and mixed it herself. After leaving Tisch’s Clive Davis Institute, Witmer moved to Brooklyn and dedicated herself to being alone with her music. “vom night” is an expression of this solidarity. It is an ode to being alone. With sounds reminiscent of fellow New York artists Frankie Cosmos and Eskimeaux, the music is cute and sweet, with poppy undertones that whirl into your head. The imaginative lyrics contrast this warm sugariness with their vulnerability. They are honest, introspective and covered in a sheen of sadness, with Witmer’s low vocal pitch nestling itself into the bottom layer of the tracks. The record’s bedroom pop sound conjures up a picture of Witmer alone in her room, lying on her bed, discovering herself. The EP begins with “manatee,” a bright song with an immediate groove. Its sound is soft and girly and its lyrics are dreamy, with each line floating up and away. With a chorus about the sea, dolphins and manatees, Witmer’s usual melancholy demeanor is replaced with something much more wild and fantastical. “perfect” is a two-minute song with only two lines — “I just wanna be perfect / anything less is shameful.” Despite the fact that the lines repeat throughout the track, the song is not linear or monotonous, as the music fills the absence of lyrics. Each
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