By ANTARA News/AFP,
New Haven, Connecticut : Former British prime ministerTony Blair, describing himself a terrible student, went back to school Fridayas religion lecturer at top US university Yale.
Blair, who converted to Catholicism after leaving office in 2007 and talked increasingly openly of his Christian faith while prime minister, delivered his inaugural lecture at the prestigious college in the state of Connecticut.
An enthusiastic audience of more than 2,000 students later thronged ornate Woolsey Hall to hear a talk by Blair, who stepped down after a decade in power, under fire for his strong support of the US-led war in Iraq.
The part-time job — he will deliver five lectures a year for three years to 25 students — comes on top of work as a Middle East peace envoy and lucrative business consultancies.
But the focus on faith and globalization as Yale’s Howland Distinguished Fellow dovetails with the former Labour Party leader’s long interest in religion and the work of his Tony Blair Faith Foundation.
Blair, who wore a blue suit and came with a Scotland Yard security detail, is already familiar with Yale’s picturesque campus in the quiet town of New Haven — his elder son Euan graduated from there this year.
He described his students at their first lecture as “really clever.”