Tradition and change: what should we be teaching in computer architecture?

The structure of computers has been taught for almost 30 years. During that time there have been many changes both in industry and academia. Even amidst all this changed there have been certain in variant challenges to educators. By taking a historical perspective, this paper identifies some of those invariance. The paper concludes with an example of a possible computer architecture course based upon interdisciplinary design that combines both educational and research experiences.