Anthony Bateza is a specialist in Martin Luther, moral theology, and Christian ethics. Luther’s political theology is his primary area of research, focusing on the reformer's understanding of human agency and his relationship with the virtue tradition and Augustinian thought. He is also personally and professionally invested in questions of race, identity, and social justice. He has written on Black liberation theology and connections between Lutheran teaching and confronting racism in the United States.  

Dr. Bateza teaches a variety of courses in the religion department that connect theological and historical questions with contemporary challenges. He has taught in the Enduring Conversations program and currently serves as the program director of the Race and Ethnic Studies program (RACE) and chair of the Race, Ethnic, Gender, and Sexuality Studies department (REGSS).  

Outside of the classroom, Dr. Bateza is involved in a number of important projects at St. Olaf that center the college's strategic efforts to center character and leadership. With the support of an Academic Leadership Fellowship from the Associated Colleges of the Midwest, he serves as the Special Assistant to the Provost and is helping to develop an Academy for Leadership and Character.

He is also the principal investigator on the college's "Character in Community" project, a three-year effort designed to foster the disposition and capacity of St. Olaf students to engage in intentional character development, oriented to discern and pursue the common good, by working in community to identify, assess, and apply learning from exemplars. This project is supported through the Educating Character Initiative, a part of Wake Forest University Program for Leadership and Character, funded by the Lilly Endowment Inc., which aims to support a wide community of more than 400 institutions to educate character within colleges and universities. 

Dr. Bateza has earned degrees from Iowa State University (B.S, 2002), the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago (M.Div., 2006), and Princeton Theological Seminary (Ph.D., 2017). He is an ordained pastor in the Lutheran Church (ELCA) and frequently speaks in congregational settings and at church events. 

Dr. Bateza lives in Northfield with his wife, Cynthia, their two children, Austen and Magdalene, and their loveable dog Charlie. In his free time, he enjoys cycling, board games, comic books, and cooking.