[1] Her dissertation was about masquerade performance by Mende women in Sierra Leone.
[1] Ruth Phillips became a Director of University of British Columbia Museum of Anthropology in Vancouver in 1997, where she, with three First Nations partner communities, and museum staff created a successful expansion and renewal plan for a $41 million grant to the Canada Foundation for Innovation, the British Columbia Knowledge Foundation, and the University of British Columbia.
[1] 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).
[3] Phillips organized many grants, and supervised the team of GRASAC research assistants in her time as the director.
[3] Phillips holds the Canada Research Chair in Modern Culture at Carleton University.