J. Jackson Barlow was born in May 1954 in Mattoon, Illinois. He received his B.A. in political science from Carleton College, Minnesota in 1976 and then received his M.A. and Ph.D. in government from Claremont Graduate School, in Claremont, California in 1981 and 1984, respectively.
From 1983-86, Dr. Barlow was the project director and editor of the New Federalist Papers, the Bicentennial project of Public Research, Syndicated, and then worked on the Commission on the Bicentennial of the U.S. Constitution in Washington, D.C. from 1986-91. As the Commission had a limited lifespan, Dr. Barlow was under pressure to find a subsequent job—and knowing that he wanted to find a teaching job, he applied to Juniata and successfully became an Assistant Professor of Politics in 1991. He notes that it was particularly difficult to find a teaching job because the graduate school he had gone to was not a particularly well-reputed one, but Juniata prioritized his government experience and decided it would be a valuable addition to their politics department. Dr. Barlow also held adjunct teaching positions at California State University San Bernardino, American University, and Hillsdale College before coming to Juniata.
Since arriving at Juniata, Dr. Barlow has been an Assistant Professor of Politics, an Associate Professor of Politics, a Professor of Politics, and Charles A. Dana Professor of Politics. He feels that one of his most important contributions to Juniata as an institution was ensuring the politics department remained independent from merging with a humanities department early in his time here, in order to ensure the liberal arts’ distinction of social sciences and humanities as their own separate entities. Dr. Barlow has taught courses on topics such as international law, American and Western political thought, and American political systems.
Dr. Barlow has also contributed a great deal to Juniata outside of the politics department—one of Juniata’s most treasured academic traditions, Liberal Arts Symposium, would not be as inclusive nor as important without Dr. Barlow’s work to transform the event. His work has expanded the event to multiple departments and has famously integrated all of their senior projects into a day of presentations which began to be colloquially advertised as “Mountain Day of the mind” due to the cancellation of classes during these presentations. The Liberal Arts Symposium allows students to proudly showcase their hard work and contribution to their departments and Juniata as an institution. Dr. Barlow considers his work on the Liberal Arts Symposium to be one of his significant contributions to Juniata as it is now a preserved and beloved tradition by students and faculty alike.
He has also contributed to the revival and continuation of Juniata Voices, a journal which publishes records of distinguished speakers who deliver talks, presentations, and lectures at Juniata. Dr. Barlow wanted a record of the presentations that were given by these speakers and proposed the idea of publishing an occasional series of documents recording these lectures. Eventually, after deliberation with the printing department and Pat Kepple, he and several other professors revived Juniata Voices, ultimately fulfilling their goal of keeping a record of guest speakers who visited Juniata.
Dr. Barlow, in his usual sarcastic and jocular manner, also notes that he believes that another one of his greater accomplishments at Juniata was writing to newly hired President Troha about installing an elevator in Good Hall, to which President Troha responded by installing an elevator, as per Dr. Barlow’s request.
Dr. Barlow received the Junior Faculty Award for Excellence in Teaching in 1995 and the Beachley Award for Distinguished Teaching in 2006.
His writings on Gouverneur Morris, an American statesman and member of the Constitutional Convention, were published in 2012. Dr. Barlow has edited three books about the Bicentennial of the Constitution and has written an extensive number of articles and book reviews which have appeared in History of Political Thought, Polity, The Review of Politics, The American Political Science Review, Interpretation, The Classical Journal, The Georgetown Journal of Law and Public Policy, among other publications.
In addition to his publications, Dr. Barlow has also noted his work with the national We the People program to be of importance, as he believes its emphasis on the function of American institutions in creating opportunities for serious discussion has left a positive impact. He has also done extensive work abroad, including a trip to Bosnia to prepare secondary school teachers to teach about democracy and constitutionalism as well as a challenging but educational trip to Bangladesh with Juniata students. Throughout his career, Dr. Barlow has also had extensive experience on various panels, moderating debate, and commenting on political proceedings.
Dr. Barlow lives with his wife and has three children and four grandchildren.
Madison Siepp '26
Bibliography
Barlow, J. Jackson. Interview. Conducted by Madison Seipp, February 16, 2024.
J Barlow. Juniata College. (n.d.). https://www.juniata.edu/academics/provost/bio.php?id=BARLOW