Unlike in Kazakhstan and many other countries, most universities do not have a set curriculum for their students. Commonly students are required to take 6-14 classes in their major (specialized field of study), which is the equivalent of one to two years. However for the past 20 years, undergraduates have almost unrestricted choices of classes to take beyond that. Although it isn't uncommon for a university to require each student to take one class in the hard sciences, one in the social sciences, one in the arts, and one in the humanities, for example, it also is common to have no restrictions.

Harvard has always been a notable exception in keeping its required core curriculum. However, you might be surprised to learn that the aim of the curriculum is not to force students to specialize in their field, but to ensure that students receive a wide education in a variety of fields, alongside the specialization that comes with choosing a major. Now Harvard has revised its curriculum to define 8 areas in which students must take at least one semester-long course (or the equivalent of 2 years of study). Students will be presumably given a list of which classes fall into which area, and new classes will also be developed to address these areas.

You can read the announcement from Harvard yourself, but the eight areas are:

• Aesthetic and Interpretive Understanding
  
• Culture and Belief
  
• Empirical and Mathematical Reasoning
  
• Ethical Reasoning
  
• Science of Living Systems
  
• Science of the Physical Universe
  
• Societies of the World
  
• The United States in the World
  

At a time when Kazakhstan is reforming its educational system and putting a great emphasis on practical job training and highly specialized education in traditional subjects, it might be worth noting that the number one university in the world is emphasizing interdisciplinary fields that address a number of different academic areas, and training undergraduates with fundamental skills like reasoning and mathematical literacy at the same time as emphasizing cultural understanding. In any case, it's interesting to see what they study at Harvard!