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Unseen University (UU) is a school of Wizard ry in the fictional Discworld city of Ankh-Morpork , staffed by a faculty composed of mostly insane and inane old wizards. The official motto of UU is "Nunc Id Vides, Nunc Ne Vides", loosely translated as "Now you see it, now you don't". The unofficial motto is "η β π," or "Etta Betta Pi." (Eat a Better Pie) The . (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 . The University is centred around the 800-foot Tower of Art, out of which it grew; any further attempt at grasping its geography is relatively pointless. 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. This is also the cause of the various physical and biological anomalies that plague it. In some rooms the direction of gravity moves around as a day passes, and some rooms contain other rooms which contain the room you started with (especially problematic for a Conga Line ). The University's Gargoyle s have taken on a life of their own, and 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. 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. One of the most notable rooms in 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 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. 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 Grimoire s 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. Access to libraries of other times or other realities, however, is at UU restricted to the Librarian himself. TOWER OF ART The Tower of Art is the 800-foot tower that forms the Unseen University's core. It has a total of 8,888 steps up to the top (On the Disc the number 8 is very mystically significant). Originally the Tower was the only building on campus, but teaching has long since moved on to other buildings. The Tower itself is usually only used for astronomical and other observations requiring altitude, the traditional May Morning chorus song from its top (Inaudible to anyone but the chorus, but traditionally applauded by all staff and students from below) and student pranks such as "tobogganing", the use of tea trays to slide down the tower's immense staircase. It is unknown who built it, as it is certainly older than both the city and the University around it, and some have speculated that it is older than the Disc itself, although evidence for this is scarce. Around the top of it a magical species of raven has developed that is much more intelligent than usual. Quoth , the raven from '' Soul Music '' and all the books featuring Susan Sto Helit is one of these. The Tower of Art is also the Motif of the Ankh-Morpork Post Office one-dollar Stamp . STAFF ''See also: Wizards (Discworld) '' Any Alumnus from Unseen University is generally free to find an unoccupied study (which are in seemingly infinite supply), take or apparently invent a title and receive board and lodgings but little or no pay. If he is unlucky, he may then attract students, though this has been stated on at least on occasion to be an unfortunate and largely unwelcome development. Regular Characters
Not regular staff (mentioned only once and/or not important to the story)
NOTABLE PAST STUDENTS
PREVIOUS ARCHCHANCELLORS
SEE ALSO
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