Student and tutor module reviews

This module was one of the reasons I chose the History element and was my second Stage 2 module. I am fascinated by the Protestant Reformation and the impact that it has had in Europe, which was a key topic in this module. The module did not disappoint as the Reformation featured throughout the module and intertwined well with other topics.

The late addition of a new unit relating to Black lives in early modern Europe did provide a challenge as there was so much material to work through and felt a little rushed, but was a very interesting subject to study.

Each assignment had a set question, not much choice in choosing from a selection like other modules. However, TMA05 provided a choice of religious, social or political aspect of a topic and with the final end-of-module assessment there was a choice of two questions and there was plenty of choice relating to what primary and secondary sources you could use to discuss and answer the questions.

The tutor feedback and tutorials were consistent and extremely valuable to me and taking on board the feedback I was able to track my progress throughout the year.

I can strongly recommend this module but there is an immense amount of reading and research required to ensure the detail is covered in the assignments.
This has also helped prepare me for the more independent aspects of Stage 3.

Course starting: October 2023

Review posted: August 2024

I really enjoyed this module. There were some parts that really didn't interest me personally, but others on the course seemed to find them fascinating.
We had six tutor-marked assignments as a mixture between essays, with a PowerPoint and a few other things.
The module is fast-paced and doesn't seem to stick to any kind of order, jumping across centuries because the books are organised by themes. I would have preferred a more chronological approach, but that's just me.
The exam was not as daunting as I initially thought. We had plenty of time to study in advance, and I was more than happy with my overall grade.
A very interesting and challenging module.

Nikita Marnie Ann Ronald

Course starting: October 2021

Review posted: September 2022

I thoroughly enjoyed this module and felt that it really introduced and helped develop historian skills, particularly in the analysis of different kinds of primary sources.
The module begins with the Renaissance and ends with the Enlightenment, encompassing the great seismic changes of the Reformation and the print revolution.
The overarching theme of the module is continuity versus change, and the focus is primarily on ordinary people and how they lived in their communities. How did ideas spread - was the proliferation of print, and expansion of education in the sixteenth century more of a urban than a rural phenomenon?
So many interesting topics - I loved looking at humoral medicine and how early modern communities responded to the threat of plague. Had no idea it would become so topical!
Because it is a broad module, events like the Wars of the Three Kingdoms (or English Civil Wars) are not studied in depth, which I was a little sad about. However, the module does look at the trend of absolutism in seventeenth century monarchs - including the Stuarts - so it provides a very good starting base for anyone wishing to study the Civil War in more depth.
One tip to future students would be to keep in mind the five themes (which the OU information about the module provides) from the beginning and keep notes about chapters that cover, for example 'Work and Trade' together as part of your preparation for the exam. My cohort didn't get to sit it because of Covid-19, but did see from past exam papers that the third question is always a choice between two of the themes, whereas the first and second questions are chapter specific.

Course starting: October 2019

Review posted: August 2020

This was an interesting course, but I have only one complaint and that was not enough one to one tutorials, The online tutorials were OK but meeting other students as well as the tutor can not be replaced.

Eileen Martin

Course starting: October 2018

Review posted: August 2019