Drawing from a long history of feminist writing grounded in personal
reflection and informal dialogue between feminist thinkers, Cobb and Godden-Rasul
present an email-based conversation with Jess Lishak, the outgoing Women’s
Officer at the University of Manchester Students’ Union (2014–2016). The conversation
draws on Cobb and Godden-Rasul’s experience as feminist academics
engaged in critical institutional practice through such initiatives as editing the
Inherently Human blog, organising the Inspirational Women of Law exhibition, and
participating in university working groups on campus-based harassment and violence.
In asking Lishak to reflect on her journey to feminism and her experiences of
activism, the conversation ranges over such issues as personal influences and
experiences, strategies for securing institutional support, encouraging student
engagement with feminism, and campaigning tactics. The conversation developed
out of a ‘‘Campus Feminisms’’ event in March 2016, which explored the rise of
exciting new grassroots single-issue campaigns and political mobilisations by students
in higher education, and was organised by Cobb and Godden-Rasul at
Newcastle University, UK. Undergraduate and postgraduate students shared their
personal struggles and achievements in bringing feminist ideas and campaigns to
their university campuses. Lucy Morgan, the Gender Equality Officer at Newcastle
University Students’ Union, offered inspiring reflections on her efforts to reinvigorate
the ‘F’ word, in the face of simultaneous student apathy and backlash.

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• Campus Feminisms A Conversation with Jess Lishak, Women’s Officer, University of Manchester Students’ Union, 2014–2016