Connections
Bunk is, at its core, a connection engine. Each day, we comb the internet for interesting articles, opinion pieces, videos, maps, visualizations, and other digital publications that engages the American past.
Each piece of content is then tagged by our team of student workers, enabling it to be automatically mixed and matched with other stories in our archive. The relationships between the stories are displayed on Bunk alongside excerpts of the content, and they are structured in one of the eight ways described below.
Note that along with the connections displayed on Bunk, you’ll see the tags that the connected resources share. You can explore stories about those specific people, places, and themes by clicking any of the tags.
Connection Types
Core Idea
Shares a fundamental themeIdea
Shares both general and specific themesPerson
Involves the same individualsPlace
Takes place in the same location(s)Previously
Shares similar themes in an earlier periodLater
Shares similar themes in a later periodMeanwhile
Overlaps in timeEra
Concerns the same broad range of yearsDo you have an idea for a new type of connection that you’d like to see on Bunk? We’d love to hear it.
Collections
As you explore Bunk, you can bookmark specific pieces for later reading, and if you’d like, attach brief notes to each of them. These collections can be saved and shared with others, or simply accessed later for your own personal use. To get started, look for the blue rectangle in the upper right corner of any piece. Learn more about building Bunk Collections.
If you’re an educator, you might want to consider inviting your students to create their own Bunk Collections. Learn more about how to create an assignment for them.
Assignments
If you’re an educator, invite students to submit their own Bunk Collections to an Assignment you’ve created at Bunk History.
Get started and create an Assignment.
Maps
If a piece of content on Bunk has a significant connection to a specific place, that piece will show up on our dynamic map interface. Try using the map as a starting point for your explorations by searching it for a place or theme. You can also toggle over to the map from any person or theme tag you encounter elsewhere on the site.
Exhibits
We periodically create thematically organized exhibits to help you navigate our vast archive of more than 10,000 pieces of content. The exhibits are automatically updated with relevant new material as it is added to our site. Explore the exhibit library.