LSU's Art History M.A. Program provides students with a strong grounding in the field and its methodologies and offers courses covering a wide range of cultures and aesthetic viewpoints. The program was founded in 1946 and is the largest public program of its kind in Louisiana. Its graduates have gone on to study toward the Ph.D. in universities around the country and to hold positions in museums and galleries throughout the United States and internationally.

The Art History Area is part of LSU's School of Art, the largest art department in Louisiana. In addition to Art History, the School offers undergraduate and graduate programs in a variety of art and design media. It is one of four units of the College of Art and Design, the others being Architecture, Landscape Architecture, and Interior Design.

LSU's Master of Arts (M.A.) in Art History accommodates both students seeking a terminal graduate degree and those who plan to continue on to the Ph.D. degree at another institution. The program offers a wide range of courses and specializations in Ancient, Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque, Modern, and Contemporary Art, as well as American Art, Asian Art, Decorative Arts and Design, New Media, and Critical Theory of Art.