Anton Rosenthal received a bachelor's degree in sociology in 1973 from the University of California, Berkeley. He went on to receive a master's degree in history from the University of Minnesota in 1984 and a doctorate in Latin American and African History from the University of Minnesota in 1989 with his dissertation, "Controlling the Line: Worker Strategies and Transport Capital on the railroads of Ecuador, Zimbabwe, and Zambia, 1916-1950." While pursuing his graduate degrees, Rosenthal taught at Macalester, Haverford, and Dartmouth Colleges. In 1990, Rosenthal accepted a position as assistant professor at the University of Kansas (KU). Rosenthal was promoted to associate professor in 1997.

Rosenthal's research and teaching interests have focused on the social history of South America, particularly on issues of class conflict and urban transportation. Some notable courses Rosenthal taught at KU included Sociology 341: Deciphering the City (Urban Sociology); History 121: Modern Latin American History; History 124/LAA 100: Society and Culture in Latin America; History 303: Sin Cities; History 308: Key Themes in Modern Global History; History 337: History, Ethics, and Modernity; History 369: Colonialism and Revolution in the Third World, Honors; History 371: Cultural, History of Modern Latin America; History 452: Chicago; History 453: Anarchism: A Global History; History 470: Popular Culture in Africa and Latin America; History 391: The Visual City; and History 580: Economic History of Latin America.

Rosenthal has published scholarly works in the Journal of Latin American Studies, Social Science History, The Americas: A Quarterly Review of Inter-American Cultural History, Studies in Latin American Popular Culture, Journal of Urban History, The American Historical Review, Journal of Interdisplicinary History, and Estudios Interdisciplinarios de America Latina y el Caribe. He has presented and participated in conferences organized by the Urban History Association, Hall Center Seminar on Latin America, Conference on Latin American History, Latin American Studies Association, Latin American Popular Culture, and Social Science History Association, among other conferences and associations.

Rosenthal retired from KU after 30 years of teaching in 2020.