Isabelle Radakovich, a fourth-year undergraduate student at Michigan State University who is triple majoring in International Relations, Political Theory and Constitutional Democracy, and French, is spending the first half of her senior year at Sciences Po Lille (formally L’Institut d’Études Politiques de Lille) in Lille, France, through a semester exchange program.
Sciences Po maintains partnerships with 11 universities around the world, creating a campus where students from different countries and disciplines constantly interact. The school’s name translates roughly to “political science school” and combines interdisciplinary coursework with a focus on public affairs.
“You’re meeting students from all over the world, students from all different kinds of disciplines,” Radakovich said. Also, Lille’s position in northern France places it within easy reach of Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom.
Radakovich currently is working on her senior honors thesis examining private military company effectiveness in civil conflicts and keeps returning to questions about accountability: who answers for violence, how systems of justice work or fail, what happens in the gaps where traditional state authority breaks down.
Radakovich was nominated for Rhodes, Marshall and Truman scholarships and hopes to attend a graduate program focused on international law after she graduates from MSU in Spring 2026. Outside the classroom, she spent two years competing on MSU’s women’s rowing team and is a member of James Madison College Student Senate.
An Interdisciplinary Path
For Radakovich, the path to Lille began a few years earlier when she arrived at MSU in late July 2021. She came to campus for her first study abroad experience before most first-year students had moved into their residence halls.
Through a two-week program in Costa Rica focused on educational systems, Radakovich got her first taste of international education and found her footing at MSU.
“I didn’t realize that international experiences would be such a formative part of my experience at Michigan State,” she said. “That first two-week program hooked me.”
The following summer, she spent several weeks in Tours, France, on a language-intensive program that eventually pushed her from a French minor to a major through MSU’s College of Arts & Letters. Radakovich also added Political Theory and Constitutional Democracy as a second major after International Relations, both through James Madison College and drawn by faculty who encouraged her to think through complex questions of accountability and justice.
At Sciences Po, Radakovich is taking courses on European Union politics and European history with students who grew up within the systems they’re studying.
“It would be like taking a kid from France and dropping them in an AP Gov course,” she said.
“I’m so grateful for all the conversations that I’ve been able to have and to listen in on. I’m always trying to expose myself to as many experiences and as many different perspectives as possible.”
After a history class one afternoon, Radakovich was in a coffee shop with students from Spain, listening as they debated Catalonian independence and walked through constitutional implications she’d never considered. Another conversation revealed how a German classmate understood Russia’s war in Ukraine through an entirely different strategic lens than she’d encountered in U.S. discourse.
“It’s fascinating,” Radakovich said. “I’m so grateful for all the conversations that I’ve been able to have and to listen in on. I’m always trying to expose myself to as many experiences and as many different perspectives as possible.”
She spent her fall break traveling to Germany to visit towns associated with philosophers she’s studied, and winter break will bring Christmas markets and a trip to Switzerland.
Looking Ahead
In January, Radakovich will return to East Lansing for her final semester at MSU, where she’ll complete her senior honors thesis, finish her last Honors College requirement, and continue serving on the James Madison College Student Senate.
As she studies in Lille, she’s also working through applications for graduate programs in international relations and political studies — primarily in the United Kingdom, where her research interests align closely with academic programs focused on international law and private military security.
For students considering study abroad, Radakovich’s advice centers on embracing the temporary nature of the experience rather than shying away from it.
“Take advantage of that urgency,” she said. “You meet somebody outside of class. Ask them to go on a weekend trip with you. Really try to make those connections because your notes from class are really important, but it’s also about the photos that you have and the people that you’ll text. Use that opportunity for what it is.”
By Jane Deacon. This story was edited from the original version published by James Madison College.
