Along these lines, a Carnegie Foundation report on of several years ago stressed the benefits of integrating research-based information into course curricula. We propose to do so by beginning with the hard disk drive industry. We believe that industry-based curricula can yield a number of important, potential benefits. Our hope is that particular industries can be profitably examined and understood from diverse perspectives. Political scientists and sociologists can explore the policies and institutions influencing the evolution of an industry and, conversely, the industry's impact on communities, workers, and countries.
Economic geographers can use one industry to explore the sources of clusters and districts.
Education specialists can use an industry to study the impact of education and vocational training. And applied scientists can use an industry to illustrate the importance of core principles in areas such as engineering, physics, and chemistry. Moreover, students in each of these disciplines can usefully learn about the questions and assumptions brought by those in other disciplines. For example, a physics student studying the disk drive industry might learn from a sociologist about the factors influencing the capacity of local workforces to absorb and develop disk drive-related technologies. The focus on a particular industry also has the potential benefit of improving the layman's understanding and appreciation of technology.