Whoever said he this professor was unapproachable clearly never actually approached him. He is a super nice person and is always willing to help if you need it. His class is absolutely not easy so if you don't want to put in the legwork or do any thinking, then by all means, don't take his class. The reading his gives you is dense but if you can at least pull out the basic meaning of them and apply them to tests and papers that is all he is asking for. He is super passionate about contemporary art and is never dull during lecture, but be prepared to use your laptop for notes because you might not be able to write everything down that he says. If you want to dreamily try to interpret Andy Warhol pieces and you're kind of lazy, his classes aren't for you. If you are actually interested in contemporary art's impact on society, then take any class you possibly can with Machida.

Sad Gen Z reviewers. You had trouble because you're stupid.

Machida was nice and tried to make jokes, but he is a very unclear lecturer. He likes to hear the sound of his own voice and lectures as if his students already held doctorates in the subject. His test was not that hard if you took the time to teach yourself the material, but it also was a shot in the dark because he was very unclear on what he wants you to take away from the lecture and apply to the midterm. The class wasn't awful, wasn't great, and overall I just wouldn't take another class with him if you're looking to have a meaningful appreciate for art.

This professor is super unorganized, does not know how to teach, and does not care how the students do. He provides no feedback, is a hard grader, and has no notes on his slides (just pictures) he does not record his lectures at all either. If you want an A, do not take this class it will lower your GPA. I was a straight A student until I took this class so for your sanity do not take a class with him. He is unapproachable and his lectures are impossible to understand because he is always scattered. All of his grading is subjective because your entire grade is just based on papers that he never explains so try to talk in class and be his favorite .

very unclear, its easy to get lost trying to understand the lectures and also trying to write the final paper. stressful. The assigned readings are super long and complex and don't help with the class concepts at all. The slides have no information on them.