As the age of WIMP-scale dark matter (DM) draws to a close thanks to the ever-increasing sensitivity of direct detection experiments, the majority of DM parameter space outside of the weak scale remains to be explored. Sub-GeV DM can excite electronic transitions in a variety of molecular and nano-scale systems which have sub-eV scale thresholds. Furthermore, non-adiabatic couplings may produce visible signals in molecules following nuclear recoils. Here, I will discuss the importance of molecular and mesoscopic systems as new directions in the direct detection of dark matter, focusing on the use of quantum dots (QDs) and organic crystals as detector targets. I will show that QDs present a particularly interesting target with inherently low-background signals and low-cost scalability. Finally, I will present the molecular Migdal effect as a new directional method to detect DM nuclear recoils using molecular systems.