After an early career in music, Patrick Meadows earned a BA in both French Literature and English Literature from the University of California, as well as an MA and a PhD in Romance Languages and Literatures from Princeton University. He has taught French language courses at Princeton University and at Hamilton College, and language and literature courses at the Sorbonne (Université de Paris IV) and at Indiana University. His research interests involve French literature and its relationship with philosophy and symbolism, the rapport between Francophone literature, colonialism and the notion of “the exotic,” as well as the theory and practice of poetic "meditation" in the post-WWII French/Francophone writings of Salah Stétié, Pierre Jean Jouve, Philippe Jaccottet and Pierre Emmanuel. His publications include Francis Ponge and the Nature of Things: From Ancient Atomism to a Modern Poetics (Cranbury, NJ, and London: Associated University Presses), and he is one of the authors of Littératures de la péninsule indochinoise (Paris: Karthala) and of Perceptions of Values in French Literature (Amsterdam: Rodopi). His research articles have appeared in journals such as The Romanic Review, The French Review and Symposium, and he has presented research papers at conferences in various countries including the United States, Mexico, India and Japan. In addition, he has co-authored two bilingual (French/English) language instruction books, Chit Chat and À l'aise en anglais (Paris: Belin).

In August 2006, Professor Meadows joined the faculty of Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in Qatar where he teaches the following courses: Introductory French I and II; Advanced French I and II; Topics in French Oral Proficiency; and Postcolonial Theory and Literature.