Former School Captain’s study of African tribe leads to place at Cambridge

Former School Captain’s study of African tribe leads to place at Cambridge

2011 leaver Sam Sherman (School Captain 2010-2011) is studying Anthropology at Cambridge; the result, he says, of his study of the Maasai tribe as part of the Extended Project Qualification (EPQ) that he took alongside A-levels.

Along with his other studies, Sam spent a year on his EPQ – which was introduced at the School in 2010. Equivalent to half an A-level, the EPQ offers students the chance to study a topic of their choice in depth.

Following his research and a visit to Kenya, Sam produced a 10,000-word dissertation looking at the impacts of the Maasai Mara National Park on the tribe.

“My Extended Project effectively introduced me to anthropology – which became my chosen discipline at university – and to the idea of ‘cultural relativism’. I found that before the project I had neglected the hugely significant psychological impacts of colonisation, focusing instead on the more tangible social and economic.”

His research took him from the libraries of universities in London to personal communications with ‘modern Maasai’ and anthropologists. Subsequently he returned to Maasailand and conducted a quasi-ethnographic study amongst the Maasai: spending a large part of his Year 13 summer holiday living with a family of Maasai in rural Kenya.