Among the countries where Akers has lived and conducted fieldwork are Dubai, United Arab Emirates; Jeddah, Saudi Arabia; as well as Tibetan monasteries in Dharamasala, India, and Kathmandu, Nepal.
The geographical areas of her research include the Middle East (Saudi Arabia and Persian Gulf) and Central Asia (Afghanistan, Nepal and Tibet).
In her dissertation on The Tribal Concept in Urban Saudi Arabia, Akers examines the social and symbolic manifestations of clans, their psychological self-definition, and the consequences of modernization.
Among her works related to the Middle East are: My Days in Mecca (2009), Oranges in the Sun (2008), Histoires d’Arabie Saoudite (2007), and They Die Strangers (2001).
[3] Akers established the field school in the Tibetan refugee community in exile in northern India for her students at Miami University in the summer of 2005.