Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair to teach religion course at Yale University

(RNS) — Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair has accepted a one-year appointment at Yale University to participate in a course on the connection between religion and globalization.

Blair’s appointment as Yale’s Howland Distinguished Fellow during the 2008-09 academic year was announced March 7. Blair served as British prime minister from 1997-2007 and converted from Anglicanism to Roman Catholicism last year. He plans to launch a foundation this year dedicated to improving interfaith relations.

Details of the course remain to be worked out; the university said that Blair would work with the faculties of Yale Divinity School and the Yale School of Management.

The planned Tony Blair Faith Foundation will “promote understanding between the major faiths and increase understanding of the role of faith in the modern world,” according to the Yale announcement.