Still Teaching After A Millennium Screensaver
The Still Teaching After A Millennium screensaver shows the oldest universities still operating, queried live against Wikidata in SPARQL. Reading down the list is a fair map of where scholarship was institutionalised first, and it is not the map most curricula imply. Two caveats: the class is whatever Wikidata types as a university, so a monastic foundation that later grew a faculty can appear beside a civic one, and inception dates this old are contested by centuries. It's free, runs in your browser, and ESC exits.
How the Still Teaching After A Millennium screensaver works
The saver reads the source described above and draws it on a canvas — no account, no tracking.
The oldest universities still operating, queried live against Wikidata in SPARQL. Reading down the list is a fair map of where scholarship was institutionalised first, and it is not the map most curricula imply. Two caveats: the class is whatever Wikidata types as a university, so a monastic foundation that later grew a faculty can appear beside a civic one, and inception dates this old are contested by centuries.
It refreshes on a schedule, so what you see stays current.
Colours can be changed in settings; nothing is stored beyond your own browser.
A worked example
The oldest universities still operating, queried live against Wikidata in SPARQL. Reading down the list is a fair map of where scholarship was institutionalised first, and it is not the map most curricula imply. Two caveats: the class is whatever Wikidata types as a university, so a monastic foundation that later grew a faculty can appear beside a civic one, and inception dates this old are contested by centuries.
Settings & tips
- Accent and Background recolour the display.
- Every value on screen comes from the live source — nothing is simulated.
- Press ESC to leave fullscreen.
Frequently asked questions
- Is this real data?
- Yes — it comes from the source named on this page and is refreshed on a schedule.
- Is a key needed?
- No. This source is fully key-less.
- Is it free?
- Yes, and it runs entirely in your browser.