Ruth B. Phillips

Ruth B. Phillips is a Professor Emeritus of Art History at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada, originally trained as a historian of African art with a Ph.D. from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, in 1979, focusing on Mende women’s masquerades in Sierra Leone.[1][2][3] She extended her research to Native North American art, authoring key books such as *Native North American Art* (co-authored with Janet Catherine Berlo, revised 2013) and *Museum Pieces* (2011), curating exhibitions, and serving as Director of the University of British Columbia Museum of Anthropology from 1997 to 2002.[3][4] Awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by the American Anthropological Association’s Council for Museum Anthropology in 2015, she is celebrated for her groundbreaking work on Indigenous arts and museology.[1][3]