A Cornell University professor of music and a former Cornell visiting professor of anthropology are among the recipients of National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) awards announced this month.

James Webster, the Goldwin Smith Professor of Music, will receive $30,000 to help fund research for a work-in-progress titled "The Music of Mozart's Operas: Analysis in Context." Jennifer Elliston, a 1997-98 visiting professor of anthropology, also was awarded $30,000 for her research topic titled "Engendering Nationalist Struggle: The Politics of Daily Life and French Colonialism in Polynesia."

The NEH announced Tuesday, Dec. 8, that it is awarding more than $8.7 million in grants and fellowships for 173 individual scholars and 10 colleges and universities. The awards ranged from $30,000 to $450,000. Approximately $15.8 million was awarded to other institutions, including libraries and historical societies.

Webster will spend the academic year 1999-00 on sabbatical leave to write his book on Mozart's operas. Webster describes his project as the "first comprehensive treatment of Mozart's operas in English that focuses specifically on the construction and organization of the music and yet also pays adequate attention to the libretto, the dramatic action and social and generic contexts."

Elliston, now an instructor at New York University, said that "being affiliated with Cornell certainly helped with my application." She added that the award will allow her to develop a manuscript based on research she conducted in French Polynesia in 1994-95.