Ruth B. Phillips (born 1945) is a Canadian

art historian Art history is the study of artistic works made throughout human history. Among other topics, it studies art’s formal qualities, its impact on societies and cultures, and how artistic styles have changed throughout history. Traditionally, the ...

and curator who specializes in North American

aboriginal art Indigenous Australian art includes art made by Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islanders, including collaborations with others. It includes works in a wide range of media including painting on leaves, bark painting, wood carving, ro ...

. She is an author of numerous books and articles on the subjects of Indigenous studies,

anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, society, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including archaic humans. Social anthropology studies patterns of behav ...

archaeology Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

international studies International relations (IR, and also referred to as international studies, international politics, or international affairs) is an academic discipline. In a broader sense, the study of IR, in addition to multilateral relations, concerns al ...

public policy Public policy is an institutionalized proposal or a Group decision-making, decided set of elements like laws, regulations, guidelines, and actions to Problem solving, solve or address relevant and problematic social issues, guided by a conceptio ...

, Canadian studies, and

cultural studies Cultural studies is an academic field that explores the dynamics of contemporary culture (including the politics of popular culture) and its social and historical foundations. Cultural studies researchers investigate how cultural practices rel ...

Career

Phillips received her doctorate in African art history in 1979 from the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

at the School of Oriental and African Studies. Her dissertation focused on masquerade performance by Mende women in

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone, officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered to the southeast by Liberia and by Guinea to the north. Sierra Leone's land area is . It has a tropical climate and envi ...

. She became a professor at

Carleton University Carleton University is an English-language public university, public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1942 as Carleton College, the institution originally operated as a private, non-denominational evening college to se ...

in 1979. In 1997, Phillips became a Director of the University of British Columbia Museum of Anthropology in

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

, where she, alongside three

First Nations First nations are indigenous settlers or bands. First Nations, first nations, or first peoples may also refer to: Indigenous groups *List of Indigenous peoples *First Nations in Canada, Indigenous peoples of Canada who are neither Inuit nor Mé ...

partner communities and museum staff, created a successful expansion and renewal plan for a $41 million grant to the

Canada Foundation for Innovation The Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI; , ''FCI'') is an independent corporation created by the Government of Canada to invest in research facilities and equipment in Canada's universities, colleges, research hospitals, and non-profit research in ...

, the British Columbia Knowledge Foundation, and the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a Public university, public research university with campuses near University of British Columbia Vancouver, Vancouver and University of British Columbia Okanagan, Kelowna, in British Columbia, Canada ...

. In 2005, Phillips, Heidi Bohaker, First Nations partners, and many other scholars co-founded the Great Lakes Research Alliance for the Study of Aboriginal Arts & Cultures (GRASAC). Phillips organized many grants, and supervised the team of GRASAC research assistants in her time as the director. Phillips holds the

Canada Research Chair Canada Research Chair (CRC) is a title given to certain Canadian university research professors by the Canada Research Chairs Program. Program goals The Canada Research Chair program was established in 2000 as a part of the Government of Canada ...

in Modern Culture at

Publications

* Berlo, Janet C., and Phillips, Ruth B. (1998) ''Native North American Art.'' Oxford:

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, . 1998, and later reprints *''Representing Woman: Sande Society Masks of the Mende of Sierra Leone'', Los Angeles: Fowler Museum of Cultural History, U.C.L.A., 1995 *''Trading Identities: The Souvenir in Native North American Art from the Northeast, 1700_1900'', Seattle: University of Washington Press and Montreal: McGill-Queen's, 1998.4 *''Unpacking Culture: Arts and Commodities in Colonial and Postcolonial Worlds'', with Christopher B. Steiner, Berkeley: University of California Press, 1999 *''Sensible Objects: Colonialism, Museums and Material Culture'', co-edited with Elizabeth Edwards and Chris Gosden, 2006 *''Museum Pieces: Toward the Indigenization of Canadian Museums'', 2011 *''Museum Transformations'', co-edited with Annie E. Coombes, International Handbooks of Museums, 2015

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Phillips, Ruth Living people Canadian art historians Canadian art curators Academic staff of Carleton University Canadian women historians Canadian women curators 1945 births Place of birth missing (living people)