Terry PratchettFantasy · Fiction·1948–2015
A Collegiate Casting-Out of Devilish Devices
A Collegiate Casting-Out of Devilish Devices
- Pages
- 6
- Published
- 2005
- Language
- English
Synopsis
The wizards of Unseen University face a threat unlike any they have encountered before: an inspection. The Patrician, Lord Vetinari, has appointed the meticulous A. E. Pessimal as the city's first Inspector of Universities, and the Faculty Council — chaired by Archchancellor Mustrum Ridcully, with Ponder Stibbons relaying the demands — must account for what exactly its wizards do: their teaching, their research output, their expenditure, all while waiting for the tea and chocolate biscuits to arrive. A short comic piece of Discworld satire aimed squarely at academic bureaucracy, first published in the Times Higher Education Supplement on 13 May 2005 and later collected in A Blink of the Screen (2012).
Genres
Characters
Ponder StibbonsSupporting
Head of Inadvisably Applied Magic and Praelector of Unseen University; relays the Inspector of Universities' demands to the Faculty Council.
Subjects
Frequently asked questions
What is A Collegiate Casting-Out of Devilish Devices?
A short comic piece set at Unseen University in which the wizards are subjected to inspection by the Patrician's newly appointed Inspector of Universities, A. E. Pessimal — a parody of UK academic bureaucracy and research assessment. First published in the Times Higher Education Supplement on 13 May 2005, and later collected in A Blink of the Screen (2012).
Is this a Discworld story?
Yes — it is set at Unseen University with the Discworld wizards, though it is a short piece rather than a novel.
What does the title mean?
The title parodies the formal language of institutional documents and assessments — specifically the kind of bureaucratic process phrase that sounds pompous but means something entirely mundane. In this case, the 'Devilish Devices' are the mechanisms of institutional evaluation itself.
