Scholarship examining the educational potential of semester-long research projects in non-methods undergraduate sociology courses is limited. To address this gap in knowledge, I drew from active learning and problem-based learning literatures to develop a term research project in two sections of an undergraduate sociology course at a large public university in the Midwest. This study assesses the efficacy of that research project by addressing two main areas in need of further discussion in the teaching sociology literature: (1) the ability of full-scale research projects to develop students’ sociological imaginations and (2) the effectiveness of incorporating a full-scale research project in a non-methods course. Panel survey methods reveal that completing the research project contributed to the improvement of students’ sociological understanding of inequalities. The findings also suggest that completing the project increased students’ confidence in their abilities to conduct social research even though the project took place in a non-methods course.

COVID-19 drastically altered teaching and learning. The unprecedented public health crisis forced educators to transition courses online, to learn new technologies, and to embrace adaptability and flexibility. These pedagogical changes brought with them new challenges and stressors, causing many educators to long for a “return to normal” in education. In this conversation, I reflect on the transformative lessons we as educators can learn from teaching during the pandemic. I argue that teaching during COVID-19 has presented opportunities for educators to become more compassionate toward students. Some of the ways we restructured our courses may also make education more accessible to vulnerable groups. Examining the lessons I have learned in compassion and accessibility through teaching sociology during COVID-19, I suggest that now is a time to adapt, not return to normal.

Focusing on the relationship between same-gender marriage and heteronormativity, my objectives in this paper are twofold. First, I examine the scholarly conversation examining same-gender marriage as a practice that either reinforces or challenges heteronormativity. I agree with the arguments posed by contemporary sociologists that reducing same-gender marriage to being purely supportive or disruptive of heteronormativity oversimplifies the issue. Next, I critically examine how challenges to heteronormativity are being measured in the context of samegender marriage. I argue that future scholarship would benefit from more thoroughly considering how challenges to heteronormativity manifest in different forms and impact the social system of heteronormativity in distinct and varied ways.

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Recent health policies encourage electronic messaging with providers to potentially improve health care. It is unclear whether the same potential exists for individuals with mental health symptoms. Whereas these individuals appear interested in such technologies, they may also be concerned about privacy and security risks. To clarify this ambiguity, we conceptualize electronic messaging as an impression management tool for individuals with depressive symptoms, who risk devaluation from others. Consequently, factors that increase the perceived risk of devaluation in face-to-face clinical encounters may increase the likelihood of electronically messaging providers. We empirically examined two factors: depressive symptom severity and trust in physician confidentiality, which is the expectation that one's regular physician uses personal health information appropriately. We found that reporting severe depressive symptoms increased the likelihood of electronically messaging providers but only among respondents who lacked trust in physician confidentiality. Electronic messaging is potentially a means to reach this underserved population.