Teaching Beer History

I think I'd like to get together a lesson plan to teach a class on the history of ales, early ale vs. early beer, and the birth of modern beer.  Something along those lines.  If it goes well I'd also like to do a class on the history of beer in Chicago, going back to the begininng.  How should I go about this.  Should I design it for a presentation to the club, or the public, because those would look very different?  Because it could be something we offer to help boost recruitment.  Maybe hold a semi-public lecture at the Map Room or something if they'd have us (just an example).  Have some malt for people to nibble on and some hops and gruit they can see and smell, offer samples of a medieval style ale and beer for comparison to modern beers.   I have a lot of ideas swimming around, I thought I'd toss it out and see what others think, maybe what others would like to know or see in such a presentation to help me formalize them so I can begin work on the research and planning.  I think the topic of early ales might appeal to other homebrewers and beer nerds more than the general public, but I think a chicago beer history class could be popular with the general public.  It'll be a lot of work to put together a slick presentation, and brew the ale and everything, but I think it could be cool, and help fulfill our educational organizational needs.