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D I S O R I E N T A T I O � U I D E
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NYU Inc.DisorientationGuide 2009
NYU is a corporation. NYU Inc. is aradical publication run by NYU students.
Editors:Nick, Drew, Emily, Andrew, RachelContributors:E.S., F.M, N.S., GSOC, C.B.Photography:Louise, Andrew Hinderaker, Vanissa ChanGroups:Students Creating Radical ChangeTake Back NYU!Graduate Student Organizing CommitteeBack cover illustration by Frank.As always, we are in debt to the ghosts of disorientaiton guide editors past: A.C., B.Q.,D.M., C.B., J.M.All writings in this Disorientation Guide rep-
resent the perspectives of their specic au
-thors, not neccesarily all of those involved inthis publication.Anti-Copyright: All materials in this zine for which the authors have legal copyright can befreely reproduced or distributed with no needfor prior permission from the authors. Copy and
distribute freely, on NYU’s dime if possible.And nally, thanks to our readers, without
whom we would simply be talking to ourselves.
Table o Discontents
Introduction ....................................3Te Past Year in Struggle ...............4Why Occupy? ..................................7Work, Study, Indenture ..................10Study Abroad in theAge o Global Empire .....................12Student GovernmentVs. Direct Democracy ...................14Meet the rustees............................16Activist Resource Map ...................17Manhattan Radical History ...........18Why I Don’t Volunteer or Want anInternship ........................................20An Approach to Education ...........22Going to School In New York .......24Reading List .....................................25Radical Faculty at NYU .................26Activist Clubs ..................................27
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And these illusions dene our lives. The status quo imposes upon us
endlessly: the promise of neoliberal prosperity, the pretense of democracy, thesupposed infallibility of the market. But people are increasingly beginning todoubt the story they have been told; the seams are starting to split. Workersaround the world are occupying their workplaces, youth in Greece still refuse
to be pacied by the police, and students are more and more angry about
their diminishing future prospects. But power will do anything to maintain itsillusions—as such, the US government spent $800 billion to restore legitimacyto our literally bankrupt economic system, while any desire for “change” was
funneled into Obama’s efcient presidential campaign.
The situation is the same here at NYU. We are told that we should trust
those in charge, that they know what’s best for us. But we can’t help wondering
why we will be on average $30,000 in debt when we graduate, why our tu-
ition now doesn’t cover printing costs, or why those long-sought-after great
classes are so rare. And through it all we work and study long hours whilealienation and boredom abound—because we
have to
, because we still believein those illusions.This is a guide for those who wish to see a bit more clearly. For the uncom-mon soul who feels crushed under an invisible weight and is not resigned tocarrying this burden forever. This is an antidote to the “disorientation” fromwhich we all suffer.
In the following pages you will nd perspectives about the University,
about our complicated world, about our all-too-human condition. And fromit, you may be able begin to plot a path through the world we all navigate,a route that takes you to more adventurous, liberatory places than you mighthave otherwise gone.For a freer and more joyous world,The editors
Introduction:
we live in an era of illusions
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