The University of Dorlaf, which lies on Broccan Street and Chorley Avenue in southern Forgar, is puzzling in several ways. Why, for example, was the Cities' flagship seat of learning placed in Forgar, designed from the outset to be a soulless, philistine town? And why, since it lies in the liberal, classless Cities, is in one of Christoté's most exclusive, snooty universities? The only real answer is one it wouldn't encourage its students to utter: "Shit happens."
The University was built in the Cities' initial construction wave and completed in 1027. It originally stood on the very edge of Forgar, though the city has subsequently somewhat swamped it. It was badly damaged by fire in 1281 and used the accident as a chance to basically level the old building and restart from scratch. The main body of the new campus building forms a rough H shape, with reception rooms, administration offices and the Dean's offices in the linking section and two grand lecture rooms forming the arms. For no good reason, the main doors are flanked by two fine 8th century wooden statues of ogresses, nick-named Myca and Calli. Behind the main building stands the buildings of the six different faculties, each tower-like structures; they are separate but linked by a series of covered walkways raised twenty feet off the ground by columns. Pathways also lie on the ground, though the centre of the campus is dominated by a large ornamental lake. Space being limited, the University is forced to put some of its structures elsewhere; some labs across the way Maynart Road, its library on The Souls nearby and various student residency blocks scattered across the Cities. The library has an impressive number of texts and is, in theory, open to all Cities residents. Books may not be taken off premises, however, and most are too opaque to be of interest to non-academics. The University's residences are far too few to house more than a fraction of its students, the rest of whom are expected to make their own arrangements with precious little University assistance.
The University of Dorlaf was intended to rival Brightlace University. However, it has never come close to the Jolton school, or even slightly lesser seats (East Zabrial, for example) in terms of repute or vitality. One reason why is that it has never been allowed to grow properly, and it certainly hasn't embraced the post-Garreday Uprisings shifts in culture. While the rest of the country was espousing mass education and opportunities for all, the University of Dorlaf held on as a bastion of privilege. Even today high tuition fees, rarefied degree courses and a general lack of accommodation for the poor (in two senses) ensure its students are mainly the progeny of aristocrats and wealthy businessmen. (Though it has also welcomed the daughters of the rich as well as the sons; unlike Brightlace, which only admitted women after legislation forced it to.) A few students get in through scholarship, but most go elsewhere, for the University of Dorlaf's actual academic reputation isn't especially great. Attending it is more a badge of status than of ability; and it is also a good place to meet the people who, in all probability, will form the next generation of the elite.
The University of Dorlaf's hierarchy is fairly standard, a Dean supervising a council composed of the heads of the faculties, all answerable to supervision from the Baron's office. The current Dean, Myran Caplan, is a typical ruler; the scion of a prosperous mine-owning family, he has spent most of his life at the University, has little idea or inclination of changing it, has written several learned economics texts and is as colourful as a puddle.
The six faculties are:
Architecture Past alumni include Sebastin Faric, responsible for much of Milliks Triangle including the widely acclaimed Eight Roads Exchange, and , who rebuilt central Port Crabal in the early 1200's. As against that, the school also produced the 'Viano Circle', who inflicted so many gilded monstrosities on the Cities in the 1200's. Staycey Elparto on the Viano Circle: 'They deserve our blame, they deserve our pity/For they came from Dorlaf University'.
The Arts Placed in an unfortunate position; viewed by the rest of the University of Dorlaf as being scruffy bohemians and by the Cities' artistic community as being elitist snobs. Tend to specialise in dense, structuralist, hypertextual theories which reduce every work of art to this or that overall trend in society. Students often complain they go for months without reading an actual work of fiction (though many of the theories may belong in this category). The one major contribution of the Arts faculty is the Piccan Playhouse, located behind its building. Though elitist itself, aimed at attracting only students and their families, it does give the students a forum to stage their first plays. Accordingly, it has launched a number of playwright careers and one or two theatrical trends.
Economics The one field in which the University of Dorlaf is a genuine leader. Hellender Darbo and Dryac Reltan, the founding fathers of Christoté's liberal 'compassionate capitalism' orthodoxy, were both professors at the faculty in the early 1100's. Many of the country's foremost business men and women have subsequently studied there and it attracts the highest number of scholarship students, who clearly view it as the fast track to riches. The faculty tends to be best at analysing existing trends and setting them in academic stone rather than creating original, agenda-setting ideas. However, it is less afflicted by the conservatism holding back the other faculties.
History Very unremarkable, though is a good place to learn about the Kingdom of Dorlaf days. (Whereas most history departments believe that the world began with the Treaty of Wesseldale.)
Philosophy Also unremarkable, also obsessed with ancient times. In their case, with thinkers who believed in the Divine Rule of the aristocracy and have been refuted by legions of later generations.
Biology No-one is quite sure why the University of Dorlaf has a Biology department, but it is quite a good one. Owning the Maynart Road labs, it has made considerable progress in understanding Teraf's flora and fauna, human biology still being a taboo subject.