Graduate Profile: Steph Tabashneck, MRPL ’25

How I've Changed  

I'm more attuned to how religion has shaped society and the internal diversity of religions. I feel more connected to God. I leave with a more open mind toward beliefs that are different from my own, and a more open heart in how I engage with them.

Memorable Moment

My most memorable moment was when students from different faith traditions came together to hold space for the immense grief and suffering in Palestine and Israel. It was a somber gathering—one that didn’t pretend to resolve anything but honored the human cost of violence across difference.

Favorite Class or Professor

I had many wonderful professors at HDS, but Diane Moore, David Holland, and Yunus Kumek stand out. Each of them showed me kindness and their support made a lasting impact.

Message of Thanks  

So many people. Yunus Kumek, Hilary Rantisi, Natalie Campbell, Kerry Maloney, Katie Caponera, Valerie, Eddie, the friends I made, and the people I admired from a distance.

Diane Moore really inspires me; she is brilliant and generous and profoundly courageous.

Zahra Moballegh, for her fierce intellect and her gentleness that radiates.

What I Hope to Be Remembered By

I hope to be remembered for being kind. And for encouraging others to think about people who are incarcerated and those who have been harmed by crime.

Future Plans

I run the Center for Law, Brain and Behavior’s NeuroLaw Library and serve as a visiting scholar at the Petrie-Flom Center at Harvard Law School. I train judges and attorneys on neuroscience within the context of legal decision-making. I hope to carry forward what I’ve learned at HDS, especially the power of moral imagination, into my work at the intersection of psychology, law, and neuroscience.