Unseen University

On the fictional Discworld created by English fantasy author Terry Pratchett, Unseen University (UU) is a school of wizardry in the city of Ankh-Morpork. Staffed by a faculty composed of mostly insane and inane old wizards, and a Librarian who has been transformed into an orangutan, one can always find some sort of mischief going on there. Modo is the dwarfish gardener at the Unseen University who doesn't bother the wizards as much as they bother him.

The motto of the UU is "Nunc Id Vides, Nunc Ne Vides". Loosely translatable as "Now you see it, now you don't".

The coat of arms is: A livre des sortilèges, attaché en cuivre, sur un chapeau pointu, on a field, azure. (That is: a book of magic spells, with copper clasps, over a pointed hat, on a blue background.) As usually rendered, it bears more than a slight resemblance to the coat of arms of the University of Oxford.

Due to the high levels of background magic in the vicinity, a typical map of UU vagely resembles an exploding chrysanthemum and is usually only valid for a day or so.

One of the most notable rooms in the UU is Room 3b. This room is not believed to exist, but a surprising number of classes are scheduled there. 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.

After learning the basics of spellcasting, UU students are challenged to continue their research in the Library. The high concentration of magical lore has warped the Library interior into a locus of L-Space where the concepts of distance and direction are only vaguely defined. There the students will encounter the Librarian (transformed into an orangutan by a magical mishap) and seek out the grimoires binding the more formidable spells. Since the contents of all magic libraries are in L-Space, it is possible to enter a Library in one city and exit in another.

See also: Hex (the computer at UU)

Staff

• Archchancellor Mustrum Ridcully
• The Bursar (Dr. Dinwiddie starting in Faust Eric and thereafter; Spelter beforehand. Sometime during Reaper Man, Dinwiddie starts going a bit loopy and is, sometime after this, no longer anything but the Bursar)
• The Dean of Pentacles
• The Lecturer in Recent Runes
• The Senior Wrangler
• The Chair of Indefinite Studies
• The Librarian
• Ponder Stibbons, Head of Inadvisably Applied Magic, Praelector and Reader in Invisible Writings
• Rincewind, Egregious Professor of Cruel and Unusual Geography (Also the Chair of Experimental Serendipity, the Reader in Slood Dynamics, the Fretwork Teacher, the Chair of Public Misunderstanding of Magic, the Professor of Virtual Anthropology and the Lecturer in Approximate Accuracy, stated in The Science of Discworld II: The Globe)

Notable Past Students

• Rincewind (in The Colour of Magic and others)
• Eskarina Smith (in Equal Rites)
• Ponder Stibbons (in Moving Pictures and others)
• Victor Tugelbend (in Moving Pictures)
• Windle Poons (in Moving Pictures and Reaper Man)

Notable Former Archchancelors

• Alberto Malich: The first Archchancellor and university founder; sent himself to the land of Death when he performed the Rite of AshkEnte backwards. Returned (briefly) in Mort.
• Archchancellor Galder Weatherwax: Distant cousin of Granny Weatherwax, is Archchancellor for the first half of The Light Fantastic.
• Archchancellor Cutangle: Archchancellor for the duration of Equal Rites.
• Coin the Sourceror: Archchancellor during Sourcery.

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