In fact, at times of great celebration in the city of Ankh-Morpork it is not uncommon for the entire faculty to be teaching there.Īfter learning the basics of spellcasting, UU students are challenged to continue their research in the Library which, like the Bodleian Library at Oxford, features chained books - although at Oxford this is done to protect the books from the students, whereas at UU it is done to protect the students from the books. This room is not believed to exist, but a surprising number of classes are scheduled there. One of the most notable rooms in UU is Room 3b. The fabric of the University is said to absorb knowledge, since all students enter university knowing absolutely everything, and leave admitting they know very little. Both a colony of ants in the main university buildings and a flock of ravens roosting in the Tower of Art show unnatural intelligence and, for the ravens, an ability to speak, again, common for entities associated with the University. The University's gargoyles have taken on a life of their own (not that this is anything unusual for Discworld gargoyles in general). In some rooms the direction of gravity moves around as a day passes, and some rooms contain other rooms which contain the room one started with (especially problematic for a conga line). This is also the cause of the various physical and biological anomalies that plague it. Due to the high levels of background magic in the vicinity, a typical map of UU vaguely resembles an exploding chrysanthemum and is usually only valid for a day or so, though it is generally agreed that the inside of UU is larger than the exterior walls, under normal circumstances, should be able to contain. The University is centred around the Tower of Art, out of which it grew any further attempt at grasping its geography is close to pointless. (That is: a blue field bearing a book of magic spells, with copper clasps, over a pointed hat.)Īs usually rendered, the coat bears a strong resemblance to the coat of arms of the University of Oxford. The coat of arms is azure, a livre des sortilèges, attaché en cuivre, sur un chapeau pointu. The university's name is a pun on the real-world Invisible College. The unofficial motto is 'η β π', or 'Eta Beta Pi' (Eat A Better Pie). The official motto of UU is 'Nunc Id Vides, Nunc Ne Vides', loosely translated as 'Now you see it, now you don't'. Unseen University is a school of wizardry in Terry Pratchett's fictional Discworld city of Ankh-Morpork, staffed by a faculty composed of mostly indolent and inept old wizards.

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