#  Graduate Profile: Steph Tabashneck, MRPL ’25 

 



GRADUATE PROFILE

### Steph Tabashneck, MRPL ’25 

 

“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.”



 



      ![Steph Tabashneck headshot](/sites/g/files/omnuum5526/files/styles/hwp_1_1__480x480/public/2025-05/StephTabsahneck.jpg?itok=xUYyZmji) 

 

 

  

 



 

 

 

 

 

### 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.



 



 

 See also:- [ Commencement ](/featured-feeds/commencement)
- [ Graduate Profiles 2025 - MRPL ](/featured-feeds/graduate-profiles-2025-mrpl)