Beginning Anew after Leaving a PhD Program?

[sociologyinthepast]

Hi all,

I've got an interesting conundrum. I abandoned a top-5 program in soc this past spring, getting my MA in the process. After a little time away, and some reflection, I've decided I want to get back to work and finish my PhD. I mostly left for personal/family reasons, so I think a relocation is what I need (I was in the Midwest and all my folks/friends/partner are in the Northeast).

I did well enough at the program - strong performance in classes, high passes on my comps, on track to get my first publishable paper sent away by what would have been my third year.

However, I didn't actually get any pubs out (from my grad work at least - picked up one from some undergrad research) and I didn't build as many strong relationships with professors as I'd like - only one professor who I really connected with strongly. This was probably due to my research being narrow - I didn't really interact with quant or historical people at my institution, which was my loss.

So - has anyone had a similar situation? Abandoned a program, wanted to reapply to other schools? Do you think the MA in soc (esp. from a highly ranked school) is an asset, or do you think having bailed on a PhD program already makes you look like a liability?

I'm not looking to reapply to top-5 programs - I want my career path to involve small liberal arts colleges, community colleges, or programs with a teaching focus. I don't want to end up at an R1.

I don't know if I can frame the move as a total shift in research areas, because honestly I don't think I want to shift that dramatically.

Any thoughts?