Dear Dr. Wiley....

I was thinking about this during my class after 7000. I decided that I disagree with your comments that students should come into a Ph.D program with a topic/specific study area already determined. Sometimes you don't know what you don't know until you start learning more about it - I now have many more areas to explore than I had previously considered. Likewise, in exploring different areas you may come across a different perspective or a different topic that may have more relevance, meaning, practicality, or more "value to the field", depending on where your priorities lie. Granted, there are some students who seem to have a clear idea of exactly what they want to do for their dissertation prior to entering a Ph.D. program, (I have met a few) and with a couple of them, I sometimes have to wonder about what world they operate in, as they frequently know no other perspective, acknowledge no other beliefs, no other focus besides the one that they have...... kind of like our current administration. (You had to know that was coming!)
And now back to the eternal paper writing......